Elder Advantage
The day was a Wednesday. It was much like any other Wednesday - except
that on THIS Wednesday, February 8, 2006, President George W. Bush
signed into a law a piece of legislation referred to commonly as the "DRA of
2005". Why should this day matter to you? Well, if you are attempting to
plan for the long term care of your loved one and had previously considered
professional Medicaid planning to protect assets then this law vastly affects
your options. Congress has enacted a law that imposes new punitive
restrictions on the ability of the elderly to transfer assets before qualifying for
Medicaid coverage of nursing home care. (For the full text of the Deficit
Reduction Act of 2005 in PDF format, click here - The section on the transfer
provisions begins on page 222. )
One of the most significant impacts of the new law is that it extends
Medicaid's "lookback" period for all asset transfers from three years to five
years and makes those applicants who have a spouse living in a valuable
house ineligible for Medicaid long-term care coverage. However the most
troubling and significant change is that the DRA also shifts the start of the
penalty period for transferred assets from the date of transfer, as is the
case now, to the date when the individual would qualify for Medicaid
coverage of nursing home care if not for the transfer. In other words, the
nursing home resident who runs out of funds to pay for his or her care and
then applies for Medicaid to pay for that care will be denied benefits for
months at a time because of relatively insignificant transfers that he may
have made years prior. The nursing home, in turn, not able to abandon care
for a resident due to non-payment alone will be forced to provide care for a
resident with now compensation for that care. (For this reason, some in the
Medicaid planning field have nicknamed this law "The Nursing Home
Bankruptcy Act of 2005).
Some believe that because of these new restrictions that there may be a
landslide of what are called "filial responsibility" lawsuits. In short, thirty
states have filial responsibility laws that require adult children to care for
their indigent parents (including Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana.) The National
Center for Policy Analysis claims that if these statutes are enforced, adult
children would have to reimburse the state programs that provided care for
their indigent parents. This may be the recourse the nursing homes are
forced into taking just to keep the bills paid in light of the new restrictive
Medicaid policies. So, if you have been the recipient of a gift from your aging
parents, in cash or property, contact Elder Advantage today to make sure
that not only your parents - but YOUR assets - are protected!
The good news is that there are still ways to preserve assets IF you have
the proper knowledge and act quickly! Elder Advantage has partnered with
the appropriate professionals to offer unique, exclusive planning tools
that you may not find anywhere else in the fight to preserve your assets
even in the face of these new restrictions! Time is the most valuable
asset in the Medicaid planning process. Don't let fear become the driving
force behind your planning by waiting until your family is in a health care
crisis to begin planning!
This bill is brutal. It hurts people with disabilities, low-income children, families, and the elderly. It also hurts charitable
organizations. These one-sided sacrifices have been inflicted on low-income Americans and the organizations that support them. A
few of the likely victims of the DRA's harsh measures are: the grandfather caring for a grandchild who provides savings to help pay
for the grandchild’s education; the grandmother who helps her daughter to purchase a handicap-equipped van to provide for her
disabled grandchild; the devoted church member who donates personal assets or even weekly tithes and offerings to the church;
the family farmer or small business owner who passes on the farm or business to the next generation; the widow who lacks
records of her now deceased husband’s spending; the caring sister who uses savings to help a needy sister remain in her home.
These individuals will be denied Medicaid if they subsequently get sick and need long-term care.
organizations. These one-sided sacrifices have been inflicted on low-income Americans and the organizations that support them. A
few of the likely victims of the DRA's harsh measures are: the grandfather caring for a grandchild who provides savings to help pay
for the grandchild’s education; the grandmother who helps her daughter to purchase a handicap-equipped van to provide for her
disabled grandchild; the devoted church member who donates personal assets or even weekly tithes and offerings to the church;
the family farmer or small business owner who passes on the farm or business to the next generation; the widow who lacks
records of her now deceased husband’s spending; the caring sister who uses savings to help a needy sister remain in her home.
These individuals will be denied Medicaid if they subsequently get sick and need long-term care.
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| The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and how it WILL affect your planning for Medicaid |
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| Elder Advantage Owensboro, KY Toll-Free: 1-866-896-3466 Fax: (270) 684-6757 info@elderadvantage.org |
| Contact Elder Advantage today so that we can make the best of these new restrictions - we have partnered with the appropriate professionals to offer unique, exclusive planning tools that you may not find anywhere else |