In the News: Iowa’s Highest Court Rules Against Medicaid Applicant

Trusts can be a highly effective tool in nursing home planning. Certain types of trusts are effective even when a nursing home stay is imminent or even ongoing. But the list of viable trust options got smaller when the Iowa Supreme Court decided the Cox v. Iowa Department of Human Services case and ruled out pooled trusts in November 2018. … Read More

Watch Your Language: D.R.A.

In 2005, Congress passed legislation which, among many, many other things, changed the way a Medicaid applicant’s resources and past transfers are considered. This bill is called the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and was signed by the President on February 8, 2006.[Read More]

Devils, Details, and Deadlines: Calculating the Penalty Period

If you can’t prove you didn’t make a transfer to get on Medicaid, that transfer becomes a disallowed transfer. And that’s bad because a disallowed transfer means a penalty period will be imposed, delaying the time you are allowed to receive Medicaid coverage for the nursing home. The real question becomes: how do you calculate the penalty period? [Read More]

The length of the penalty period depends on the value of the assets transferred.