Tag Archives: community spouse resource allowance

Preserving Assets and Maximum Income for the Community Spouse When the Institutionalized Spouse Enters a Nursing Home

January 1, 2022 – 12:01 am

by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq.

When one spouse enters a nursing home and may be applying for MassHealth, the spouse who remains at home or in assisted living often has some important choices to make with an unbiased legal advisor.

One of the biggest mistakes that many spouses make when the other spouse enters a nursing home is not getting legal advice from an elder law attorney about Medicaid, known in Massachusetts as “MassHealth.” The “free” information that many community spouses (which under MassHealth law  means any spouse who is not in a nursing home) often rely on can turn out to be quite costly to them.

There are different layers in MassHealth law, and many persons only seem to know about the bottom layer, so let’s go over that one first. Under 2022 law, just about everything other than the home and car are totaled, and the community spouse supposedly can keep only the first $137,400.00.

Unfortunately, this lower layer is where the knowledge of many persons ends, and two other upper layers of the law effectively override the lower layer. One upper layer is that the community spouse can enter into certain types of annuity agreements with the spenddown (that is, excess) assets.

Before even thinking about using the annuity layer, however, the community spouse should keep three things in mind: (A) not every annuity will work; (B) the published regulations and unpublished internal procedures and policies which now allow such a move can change with little advance notice, so it is often not advisable that an annuity be purchased until the institutionalized spouse’s nursing home stay has already occurred; and most importantly (C) some community spouses can keep everything without needing an annuity, and are better off without an annuity, due to the other upper layer of MassHealth law that protects income for the community spouse.

At present, the community spouse has the absolute right to an income of at least 2,177.50 per month. This is known as the Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (“MMMNA”). If shelter expenses exceed 30% of this figure, or $653.25, or if a disabled child lives at home, the community spouse is often entitled to keep a higher MMMNA. If the Social Security and pension payable in the name of the community spouse is less than the $2,177.50 figure, at the end of the MassHealth application process the community spouse is allowed to keep some or all of the institutionalized spouse’s income to be brought up to the MMMNA.

If the needs of the community spouse are greater than $3,435.00 per month, a higher amount of income can sometimes be preserved for the community spouse via the fair hearing appeal process, where the need to keep the other assets has to be proved to maintain the financial ability to remain in the community.  A common situation where need can be fairly easily proved is where the community spouse is living in an assisted living facility and needs to be there due to frailty, medical condition or other special needs.   Once the need to be in assisted living is established, the appeal is primarily about numbers and prevailing interest rates, so the elder law attorney can often handle it alone without the community spouse having to go to the hearing.

Another option to retain greater income for the community spouse is a Probate Court procedure known as separate support.  Since both spouses need legal representation in court, it is important that the institutionalized spouse have a durable power of attorney that allows the appointed agent or attorney-in-fact to hire a lawyer.

When spenddown and appeal options are determined by an elder law attorney as potentially unsuccessful, the community spouse can often purchase certain types of immediate annuities, where the assets used to make the purchase then change character and are treated as the community spouse’s protected income.

One other option available to the community spouse, but not often done in Massachusetts, is known as spousal refusal, where the community spouse refuses to cooperate in the application and payment processes.

By Brian E. Barreira | Posted in Annuities, MassHealth Application Process, Preserving Assets & Income for the Spouse | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

What Is the Excess Shelter Allowance When Filing a MassHealth Application in 2015-2016?

November 10, 2015 – 10:39 am

by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq.

When applying for MassHealth, the at-home spouse, known as the community spouse, is allowed to keep all of the community spouse’s own income, no matter how much that amount may be.  If the community spouse’s own income is below $1,991.25, however, the community spouse is allowed to divert income from the institutionalized spouse to get up to the $1,991.25 requirement of the current law.  (Note:  the $1,991.25 minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance —MMMNA— will likely increase on July 1, 2016.)

The $1,991.25 in income currently allowed for the community spouse can be increased beyond that figure if the community spouse’s housing expenses are high.  That increase is known as the Excess Shelter Allowance.   If the community spouse’s housing expenses are more than 30% of the MMMNA, (i.e., 30% of $1991.25, which comes to $597.38), then the additional income needed is referred to as the Excess Shelter Allowance, and ends up being an additional income allowance for the community spouse.

For some spouses, the increased income allowance can mean an increase in the community spouse resource allowance, which is the total amount of assets that the at-home spouse is allowed to keep.

By Brian E. Barreira | Posted in Fair Hearings, MassHealth Application Process, Preserving Assets & Income for the Spouse | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance for Nursing Home Resident’s Spouse Is Now $1,991.25 until 6/30/2016

November 5, 2015 – 6:26 pm

by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq.

When one spouse is living in a nursing home and the other spouse is living anywhere else, the spouse who is not living in the nursing home (who is known under MassHealth law as the “community spouse”) is allowed by MassHealth to keep some (or sometimes all) of the nursing home resident’s income through an income allowance known as the Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMMNA).  Every July 1st, this figure changes based on federal poverty level guidelines.  The MMMNA is $1,991.25 from July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016.

If certain basic household expenses are more than 30% of the MMMNA, which amounts to $597.38, the community spouse is entitled to keep extra income, known as the Excess Shelter Amount (“ESA”).  Between the MMMNA and the ESA, the community spouse can now be entitled to as keep as much as $2,980.50 of the married couple’s total income.  If even more income is needed, such as where the community spouse is living in an assisted living facility, the community spouse can request a fair hearing and attempt to prove the need for more than $2,980.50 of the married couple’s total income.  In some cases, the community spouse would need more than $2,980.50 due to the costs of an assisted living facility, but would be required at the fair hearing to prove the need to live there.

Utilizing the MMMNA provisions in Medicaid/MassHealth law is always better than purchasing an immediate annuity, since all payments from the annuity are treated as income, and purchasing an annuity ends up reducing the amount of the married couple’s retirement income that the community spouse could otherwise keep.  Unfortunately, due to the asset rules under Medicaid/MassHealth, in many situations the community spouse has no realistic choice but to purchase an immediate annuity with excess assets.

By Brian E. Barreira | Posted in Annuities, Fair Hearings, MassHealth Application Process, Preserving Assets & Income for the Spouse | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

What Is the Excess Shelter Allowance When Filing a MassHealth Application in 2013-2014?

August 6, 2013 – 12:20 pm

by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq.

When applying for MassHealth, the at-home spouse, known as the community spouse, is allowed to keep all of the community spouse’s own income, no matter how much that amount may be.  If the community spouse’s own income is below $1,939, however, the community spouse is allowed to divert income from the institutionalized spouse to get up to the $1,939 requirement of the current law.  (Note:  the $1,939 minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance —MMMNA— will likely increase on July 1, 2014.)

The $1,939 in income currently allowed for the community spouse can be increased if the community spouse’s housing expenses are high.  That increase is known as the Excess Shelter Allowance.   If the community spouse’s housing expenses are more than 30% of the MMMNA, (i.e., 30% of $1939, which comes to $582), then the additional income needed is referred to as the Excess Shelter Allowance, and ends up being an additional income allowance for the community spouse.

For some spouses, the increased income allowance can mean an increase in the community spouse resource allowance, which is the total amount of assets that the at-home spouse is allowed to keep. See Protecting Assets and Maximum Income for the Community Spouse When Applying for MassHealth in 2013 to Help Pay for the Unhealthy Spouse’s Nursing Home Bills in Massachusetts

By Brian E. Barreira | Posted in MassHealth Application Process, Preserving Assets & Income for the Spouse | Also tagged , , , | Comments (1)

When is a Community Spouse Allowed to Make Disqualifying Transfers of Assets without Adversely Affecting the Institutionalized Spouse?

February 6, 2013 – 11:17 am

by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq.

Under federal Medicaid laws and MassHealth regulations, disqualifying transfers of assets (which are usually gifts or below-market sales) disqualify not only the person who makes those transfers, but also that person’s spouse. A prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement has no effect on the required disqualification imposed on MassHealth applicants under federal Medicaid law.

Any disqualifying transfers of assets made by a person are problematic because they can disqualify that person’s spouse for the next 5 years, which is the lookback period currently in effect for MassHealth. Therefore, gifts should not be made if a nursing home stay and MassHealth application are likely in the near future, and should especially not be made during the MassHealth application process.

The month after a MassHealth approval for an institutionalized spouse, however, a different set of rules applies. At that point, whatever the community (i.e., at-home) spouse does with real estate and other assets is not treated as having been done by the institutionalized spouse. This letter I received in 2000 from the federal government agency overseeing the Massachusetts MassHealth agency Medicaid letter post eligibility transfer by spouse confirms that a community spouse may transfer assets the month after MassHealth approval of the institutionalized spouse.

By Brian E. Barreira | Posted in Gifts & Disqualifying Transfers, Preserving Assets & Income for the Spouse, Protecting the Home | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

What Is the Excess Shelter Allowance When Filing a MassHealth Application?

March 9, 2012 – 8:50 am

by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq.

When applying for MassHealth, the at-home spouse, known as the community spouse, is allowed to keep all of the community spouse’s own income, no matter how much that is.  If the community spouse’s own income is below $1,838, the community spouse is allowed to divert income from the institutionalized spouse to get up to the $1,838 requirement of the current law.  (Note:  the $1,838 minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance —MMMNA— will increase to $1,891 on July 1, 2012, and remain at that higher figure through June 30, 2013.)

The $1,838 in income currently allowed for the community spouse can be increased if the community spouse’s housing expenses are high.  That increase is known as the Excess Shelter Allowance.   If the community spouse’s housing expenses are more than 30% of the MMMNA, (i.e., 30% of $1838, which comes to $551), then the additional income needed is referred to as the Excess Shelter Allowance, and ends up being an additional income allowance for the community spouse.  For some spouses, the increased income allowance can mean an increase in the community spouse resource allowance, which is the total amount of assets that the at-home spouse is allowed to keep.

By Brian E. Barreira | Posted in MassHealth Application Process, Preserving Assets & Income for the Spouse | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

In Medicaid Planning, Some Trusts Can Put Elderly Persons in a Worse Position Than If They Had Taken No Action At All

March 7, 2011 – 7:22 am

by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq.

In trust law, there is no such thing as “one-size-fits-all.”  Trusts must be designed to meet the particular concerns of the person whose assets will be placed there.  Two of the major non-tax concerns of many elderly persons in Massachusetts are probate avoidance and Medicaid (known in Massachusetts as MassHealth).  It is important to note that probate avoidance is not the same as MassHealth planning, and if assets can be given back to or taken back by the original owner, the assets of a trust are not protected for MassHealth purposes if a nursing home stay becomes necessary.

Revocable Trusts

Although the assets of just about any revocable trust will avoid probate, the assets of these trusts are never preserved for Medicaid purposes if a nursing home stay eventually becomes necessary and a MassHealth (i.e., Medicaid) application is filed.  All of the assets of a revocable trust are deemed countable, which in MassHealth jargon means the assets must be spent for the care of the nursing home resident.

The home of a MassHealth applicant is usually considered noncountable, but if it is in a revocable trust, in Massachusetts it is treated the same as any other asset.  The home of a MassHealth applicant that is in a revocable trust must be sold and the proceeds spent on the care of the nursing home resident.  Any exemptions that the home might have received, such as for the MassHealth applicant’s spouse and certain children or siblings, is lost by having the home in a revocable trust.

Many elderly persons go to free living trust seminars, and are “sold” the benefits of probate avoidance. In my opinion, what goes on at those seminars (and the free hour with the lawyer afterwards) is nothing more than a sale.  The sale is often a reddish binder that contains documents that include a revocable trust. In my recent experience, both spouses are co-Trustees of each other’s revocable trusts. The problem is that if one of them becomes mentally incapacitated, we’re stuck with 2 trusts that each have an incompetent co-Trustee, and have to go through extensive steps to get the incompetent Trustee removed from the position.  In my experience, the married couple was not informed during the “sale” process about what would happen if one of the spouses eventually needed nursing home care.

The bottom line is that revocable “living” trusts are easy sales to be made to elderly persons by inept, one-size-fits-all planners or online document banks, but often do not meet the MassHealth concerns of the elderly persons who cannot afford or qualify for long-term care insurance.

Irrevocable Trusts

Although the assets of just about any irrevocable trust will avoid probate, the assets of these trusts are often not preserved for MassHealth purposes in Massachusetts if a nursing home stay eventually becomes necessary and a MassHealth application is filed.

Since April 1, 1990, MassHealth regulations have provided that if a Trustee of an irrevocable trust can give assets back to the original owner, and if a MassHealth application is filed by or on behalf of the original owner, the assets of the trust are deemed available to the nursing home resident, and render the elderly person ineligible for MassHealth. This law applies retroactively to irrevocable trusts created before the Massachusetts regulation was adopted. The impact of this law on irrevocable trusts means that many older irrevocable trusts do not meet the MassHealth concerns of the elderly persons who cannot afford or qualify for long-term care insurance.

Fixing Bad Trusts

In attempting to fix any MassHealth problem caused by a trust, a transfer of the assets causes a 5-year MassHealth lookback period unless the transfer of the assets goes back to the original owner.  It can be fairly simple to fix the problem if a revocable trust is the cause of MassHealth ineligibility, since the original owner can revoke the trust and get the assets placed back into his/her name, but if the original owner is mentally incapacitated at that time, revoking the trust might not be so easy.

It is often difficult to fix the problem if an irrevocable trust is the cause of MassHealth ineligibility. The MassHealth problem caused by any irrevocable trust is completely dependent on the provisions of the trust, and the method of fixing the problem varies from trust to trust. Usually the elderly person is not the sole Trustee, and neither the Trustee nor the elderly person has the power to get the assets placed back into the elderly person’s name. In many cases, a Massachusetts Probate Court proceeding known as a trust reformation is needed, and in other cases, a Probate Court petition to terminate the trust due to frustration of purpose is the better procedural move.

By Brian E. Barreira | Posted in Irrevocable Trusts, Long-Term Care Insurance, MassHealth Application Process, Permissible Transfers, Preserving Assets & Income for the Spouse, Protecting the Home, Revocable Trusts | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

Are You Personally Responsible for Your Spouse’s Nursing Home Bills in Massachusetts?

February 7, 2011 – 11:25 am

by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq.

It may come as a surprise to some people, but you can be held personally responsible for your spouse’s bills if they are for payment of necessaries.  In the case of East Longmeadow Management Systems v. Wilson, the nursing home resident’s wife, Judith Wilson, was successfully sued for $45,243.24 in unpaid nursing home bills of her husband, Robert Wilson.  This case serves as a stern warning to older married persons that they need to obtain legal advice from an elder law attorney when their spouse enters a nursing home.  If she had done so, all of her husband’s nursing home bills could have been covered.

Even though Robert had no assets and even though Judith had not signed any contract or agreement accepting financial responsibility for his nursing home bills, she was successfully sued because she did not file for and obtain MassHealth (i.e. Medicaid) benefits for him on a timely basis.  On a motion for summary judgment, the Court found that under Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 209, Section 1, she was liable as his wife for the full cost of necessaries furnished to Robert during his life.

This case highlights why anybody concerned about the costs of nursing home care should be sure to obtain legal advice about MassHealth.  If Judith had obtained legal advice from a Certified Elder Law Attorney promptly after Robert entered a nursing home, she would have learned how to apply for MassHealth for him on a timely basis.  MassHealth coverage could have been applied for as long as three months after his health insurance had stopped paying for his care.

For some basic information about the at-home spouse’s ability to retain assets under MassHealth (i.e., Medicaid) law, see http://elderlawblog.info/2010/04/05/preserving-all-assets-and-maximum-income-for-the-community-spouse-when-the-other-spouse-enters-a-nursing-home/

By Brian E. Barreira | Posted in MassHealth Application Process, Preserving Assets & Income for the Spouse | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Preserving Assets and Maximum Income for the Healthier Spouse When the Other Spouse Enters a Nursing Home

January 26, 2011 – 9:32 pm

by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq.

When one spouse enters a nursing home and may be applying for MassHealth, the spouse who remains at home or in assisted living often has some important choices to make with an unbiased legal advisor.

One of the biggest mistakes that many spouses make when the other spouse enters a nursing home is not getting legal advice from an elder law attorney about Medicaid, known in Massachusetts as “MassHealth.” The “free” information that many community spouses (which under MassHealth law  means any spouse who is not in a nursing home) often rely on can turn out to be quite costly to them.

There are different layers in MassHealth law, and many persons only seem to know about the bottom layer, so let’s go over that one first. Under 2010 law, just about everything other than the home and car are totaled, and the community spouse supposedly can keep only the first $109,560 under 2011 law.

Unfortunately, this lower layer is where the knowledge of many persons ends, and two other upper layers of the law effectively override the lower layer. One upper layer is that the community spouse can enter into certain types of annuity agreements with the spenddown (that is, excess) assets.

Before even thinking about using the annuity layer, however, the community spouse should keep three things in mind: (A) not every annuity will work; (B) the published regulations and unpublished internal procedures and policies which now allow such a move can change with little advance notice, so it is often not advisable that an annuity be purchased until the institutionalized spouse’s nursing home stay has already occurred; and most importantly (C) many community spouses can keep everything without needing an annuity, and are better off without an annuity, due to the other upper layer of MassHealth law that protects income for the community spouse.

At present, the community spouse has the absolute right to an income of at least 1,821.25 per month. (Further, if shelter expenses exceed 30% of this figure, or $514.00, or if a disabled child lives at home, the community spouse is often entitled to keep much more than $1,821.25 per month.) If the Social Security and pension payable in the name of the community spouse is less than the $1821.25 figure, as is often the situation when the husband enters the nursing home, at the end of the MassHealth application process the community spouse is allowed to keep some or all of the institutionalized spouse’s income.

If the needs of the community spouse are greater than $2,739 per month, a higher amount of income can sometimes be preserved for the community spouse via the fair hearing appeal process, where the need to keep the other assets has to be proved to maintain the financial ability to remain in the community.  A common situation where need can be fairly easily proved is where the community spouse is living in an assisted living facility and needs to be there due to frailty, medical condition of other special needs.   Once the need to be in assisted living is established, the appeal is primarily about numbers and prevailing interest rates, so the community spouse need not go to the hearing, and the elder law attorney can often handle it alone.

Another option to retain greater income for the community spouse is a Probate Court procedure known as separate support.  Since both spouses need legal representation in court, it is important that the institutionalized spouse have a durable power of attorney that allows the appointed person to hire a lawyer.

When spenddown and appeal options are determined by an elder law attorney as potentially unsuccessful, the community spouse can often purchase certain types of immediate annuities, which are almost always the last resort due to the manner in which the institutionalized spouse’s income is treated for MassHealth purposes.

Maintaining the maximum retroactivity of the original MassHealth application is vital to preserve assets for the community spouse and to ensure that the nursing home will be paid by MassHealth, so the MassHealth fair hearing appeal process should never be overlooked if any type of notice of denial is ever received along the way.

Why don’t more persons know about the appeal and annuity options? Perhaps because the high-level state bureaucrats who run MassHealth do not want everyone taking advantage of these options, and have seen to it that their legal department keeps the official information about spousal rights and annuities as vague or hidden as is legally possible.  Perhaps because many nursing homes offer “free help” with the MassHealth application, yet do not give the family complete information about possible appeals and annuities, so that the community spouse feels relieved at receiving help yet unaware that some important alternatives are not being explored.

By Brian E. Barreira | Posted in Annuities, MassHealth Application Process, Preserving Assets & Income for the Spouse | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Last-Minute Medicaid Planning in Massachusetts

January 11, 2011 – 9:24 pm

by: Brian E. Barreira, Esq.

Even After a Nursing Home Stay Has Begun, Some Asset Protection Planning Can Still Be Done

Lookback and Disqualification Periods

Many persons, including some who are rendering advice about Medicaid law, seem to misunderstand the Medicaid lookback period. The lookback period is not the same as the disqualification period. When a Medicaid application is filed, the state Medicaid agency looks back five (5) years for gifts made and trusts established on or after February 8, 2006. Based on whatever the state Medicaid agency finds in the lookback period, a disqualification period can be imposed.

A thorough understanding of the interaction between the lookback and disqualification periods is needed before deciding whether a gift can be made, or whether the filing of a Medicaid application should be delayed.

Last-Minute MassHealth (i.e., Medicaid) Planning for Married Couples

The community spouse (A) can keep all assets automatically in some cases; (B) can spenddown excess assets in some cases; and (C) can keep all assets in many other cases through a fair hearing process. All protected assets must be transferred into the community spouse’s name, and the 5-year lookback period does not apply to this allowable transfer of assets.

When all else is determined by an elder law attorney as potentially unsuccessful, the community spouse can purchase an immediate annuity, which is similar to buying a short-term pension.  There is no current regulation requiring that the annuity extend for the community spouse’s life expectancy or that the institutionalized spouse be the post-death beneficiary.

To allow extra items to be bought for the institutionalized spouse without causing the loss of MassHealth benefits that an outright inheritance would cause, after the gifts are made to the community spouse, the community spouse should often execute a will containing a testamentary trust for the institutionalized spouse’s benefit.

Last-Minute MassHealth (i.e., Medicaid) Planning for an Unmarried Person

Long-term care insurance protects the home from a MassHealth estate recovery claim for long-term care (but not community care) benefits if questions on the application are answered correctly.

Partial gifts of real estate and other assets can still be advisable, even after a nursing home stay has begun, if sufficient assets are retained to pay for the disqualification period caused by the gifts, or the remainder of the lookback period.

For a person whose realistic life expectancy is far less than average, an immediate annuity may, even under the 2006 law, be a way to minimize nursing home payments and preserve funds for the eventual post-death beneficiary of the annuity.

By Brian E. Barreira | Posted in Annuities, Gifts & Disqualifying Transfers, Long-Term Care Insurance, MassHealth Application Process, Permissible Transfers, Preserving Assets & Income for the Spouse, Protecting the Home | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)