medicaid planning Latest News

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income The Social Security Administration recently announced that the monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits will increase by...

Many elder law practitioners that utilize Medicaid Compliant Annuities in their planning are familiar with J.G. Wentworth proclaiming their ability to purchase any annuity - regardless of the provisions.

Today, an irrevocable trust is an excellent planning tool for those clients wanting to qualify for Medicaid benefits in the future.

Medicaid planning with IRAs typically involves a considerable amount of caution due to the heavy tax consequences and penalties that can result from careless errors.

According to recent statistics, the majority of long-term care provided in the family home is provided by the children of the homeowner.

Farr Law Firm attorney joins organization dedicated to enhance the lives of the elderly.

It's quite common for a family to bring in documentation for a handful of old life insurance policies during your planning meetings.

As an elder law attorney, you know that it is relatively easy to qualify an institutionalized spouse for Medicaid benefits by converting the excess countable resources into monthly income for the community spouse by way...

The goal in planning for an institutionalized individual with diminished longevity is to allow the individual to immediately qualify for Medicaid, while reducing the reimbursement claim to the Medicaid program and creating the greatest possible...

You're not alone. If you're not an insurance agent annuities can be confusing. I'm frequently asked questions regarding the difference of annuities, and how the difference kinds are treated for eligibility purposes.

I had written a prior post briefly discussing the options available when a client comes into your office with a "bad" annuity. Within that post, I mentioned the three primary options were (1) exchanging the annuity...

Personal Services Contracts ("PSKs") are widely used in Florida as a Medicaid spend-down tool and allow for immediate Medicaid eligibility. If used alone, the PSK poses three non-Medicaid problems...

"Then what's the point of using a Medicaid Compliant Annuity?" I hear this quite often, in both working with newer elder law attorneys and families of the elderly. With the state Medicaid agency required to be a beneficiary..

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income The Social Security Administration recently announced that the monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits will increase by...

Most of you are aware of the new VA Annuity available. For those that aren't, it's essentially a traditional immediate annuity - revocable and assignable, but still offering zero cash value.

John Lopes was married, residing in a nursing home, and in need of assistance. Amelia Lopes, John's spouse residing in the community, purchased a Medicaid Compliant Annuity, and shortly thereafter made a Medicaid application on behalf of her...

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, Dale Krause worked with insurance companies to create the product he needed.

With annuities being one of the most popular investment vehicles available, it shouldn't be a surprise when a client drops off a mountain of financial documentation and you happen to find an annuity policy or two.

The California Department of Health Care Services ("DHCS") recently released drafts of the proposed Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 ("DRA") asset eligibility regulation package, including the proposed treatment of annuities under the new legislation.

In some states an IRA is an exempt resource for the community spouse, or even both the community spouse and his or her institutionalized counterpart. For the states where the IRA is a countable resource, where does that leave it in your crisis..

Annuities are investment vehicles that have been around for ages. Most people have at the very least a basic understanding of what annuities are. However, due to the detailed nature of Medicaid Compliant Annuities it can be...

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 ("PPA") brought favorable tax changes for long-term care insurance funding beginning January 1, 2010.

How to include financial advisors in the planning process is a topic I frequently see discussed on various elder law listservs. The problem at hand is that many elder law attorneys have, or seek to have relationships with advisers..

The law firm of Futterman, Lanza & Block, LLP is offering a free two-hour seminar, “Medicaid Planning & Asset Protection,” which will take place August 22 at the law office, located at 222 East Main Street, Suite 314, in Smithtown.

On March 26, 2008, Leroy and Glenda Morris requested that a resource assessment be conducted for Medicaid eligibility purposes.

The primary advantage of purchasing a partnership long-term care insurance policy is that if the insured exhausts all of his or her available coverage.

One of the largest obstacles in Veterans Benefits planning can be taking future Medicaid benefits into consideration - planning for the unknown.

When investing in an annuity providing immediate payments an applicant can usually select one of three different payout options: Life-Only Payout: Payments continue as long as the owner/annuitant lives.

The use of promissory notes in crisis Medicaid planning is becoming increasingly unpopular throughout the nation. In Arkansas, they are treated as trust-like devices, thus determined to be countable resources.

For those that are not familiar with the term, a partial cure exists when a giftee returns a portion of a gift to a Medicaid applicant, thereby reducing any previously applied divestment penalty period accordingly.

In most states retirement accounts and retirement annuities are treated differently for Medicaid purposes. A retirement account will traditionally be considered under the retirement asset rules, and applied to eligibility accordingly.

The legislation regarding annuities contained within the Deficit Reduction Act of 20051 ("DRA") seems to apply only to the "annuitant who has applied for medical assistance."

The Facts. Marshall, a Korean War veteran, is 88 years of age and lives in Georgia. After years of struggling with Parkinson's disease and losing his wife in late 2008 Marshall realizes he can no longer live independently.

When a client takes money out of an IRA before reaching age 59 and a half he or she is liable not only for income taxes on the distribution, but also for a 10% penalty - which is based on the withdrawn amount.

Generally speaking, after the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, if a community spouse uses a Medicaid Compliant Annuity, or promissory note, to eliminate the spend-down amount an institutionalized spouse is immediately eligible for Medicaid benefits.

The law firm of Futterman, Lanza & Block, LLP is offering a free two-hour seminar, “Medicaid Planning & Asset Protection," at its Smithtown and Babylon offices.

An Asset Protection Trust ("APT") is an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust. An Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust is a trust that treats the assets in the trust differently for income tax purposes than for estate tax and gift tax purposes.

A recent court case, Hutcherson v. Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System Administration ("AHCCCS"), brought a ruling down regarding the State's recovery rights as a beneficiary of a Medicaid Compliant Annuity. Within the decision:

Many elder law practitioners that utilize Medicaid Compliant Annuities in their planning are familiar with J.G. Wentworth proclaiming their ability to purchase any annuity - regardless of the provisions.

As previously mentioned in a prior blog post I made, the first cost-of-living adjustment since 2008 has recently been made. This adjustment brought a 3.7% increase to many of the planning figures used in an elder law practice every day.

"If a single person buys a Medicaid Compliant Annuity to provide income during a disqualification period, and the state Medicaid agency is designated as the primary beneficiary, what if the individual predeceases the annuity?"

Primarily in Florida, Personal Services Contracts ("PSK"), which are also referred to as Caregiver Agreements, are widely used as a spend-down tool for Medicaid and Veterans benefits planning.

An Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust ("IDGT") is an irrevocable trust created so that the assets of the trust are attributable to the grantor for federal income tax purposes, but not for gift, estate, or generation skipping transfer tax.

Today, an irrevocable trust is an excellent planning tool for those clients wanting to qualify for Medicaid benefits in the future.

Medicaid planning with IRAs typically involves a considerable amount of caution due to the heavy tax consequences and penalties that can result from careless errors.

If your client has a tax-deferred annuity that is causing problems with Medicaid or VA eligibility, it can be easily cashed out.

The American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company, based in Des Moines, Iowa, recently made an announcement regarding its acceptance of annuity new business in relation to Veterans Administration Benefits planning.

The advantage of purchasing a partnership Long-Term Care Insurance policy is that if the insured exhausts all of his or her available coverage.

The annuity planning that Krause Financial Services provides in VA scenarios is not to be confused with the planning provided by many self-dubbed "VA Planning Specialists" that have recently created quite the reputation.

The majority of elder law attorneys are very familiar with the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005; however, I have found that much confusion still surrounds the requirements.

When a client qualifies for VA and/or Medicaid benefits, an annuity typically becomes part of the planning strategy. So what is an annuity?

Balloon-style immediate annuities are becoming more and more popular in VA planning.

In many states, an IRA owned by the community spouse is a countable resource for Medicaid purposes.

According to recent statistics, the majority of long-term care provided in the family home is provided by the children of the homeowner.

In March of 2010 the National Association of State Medicaid Directors ("NASMD") wrote a letter to the Center for Medicaid and State Operations ("CMS") regarding the inappropriate use of short-term Medicaid Compliant Annuities

An irrevocable trust is an excellent tool when preplanning for Medicaid benefits. Anything that is put into the irrevocable trust is protected from a Medicaid spend-down if five years pass from the date of the transfer.