DRA-stic Changes to "Transfer of Assets" Rule...
On February 8, 2006, the President signed the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005,
implementing extensive changes to federal Medicaid laws. The most significant
changes made were to the "look-back period" and the beginning date for the period
of ineligibility ("penalty period") for certain transfers of assets. The "look-back period"
has changed from 36 months to 60 months. Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana have all
implemented the restrictive changes mandated by federal law.
Meanwhile, a survey for the National Academy of Social Insurance finds that 7 in 10
Americans age 40 and over think the federal government should do more to help
people meet the cost of long-term care.
AARP, the Alzheimer's Association, the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations,
and more than thirty-five other national organizations strongly opposed these
provisions in the bill.
A few of the likely victims of this new law:
- A woman who helped her granddaughter by paying $15,000 for her college
tuition, a year before applying for Medicaid. - A widow with Alzheimer's who can't account for expenditures four years ago by
her now deceased husband. - A widower who sends money to his daughter, a single parent with two underage
children who loses her job due to chronic fatigue syndrome, a year before
suffering a heart attack and debilitating stroke that result in the need for long-
term care. - The caring sister who gives $20,000 of her savings to help a needy sister
remain in her home. - A farmer in the Midwest who passed on the family farm to his son four years
before he applied for Medicaid. - A man who sold his home for $150,000 and donated 10% of the proceeds, or
$15,000, to his local church four years before he applied for Medicaid. - The elderly couple who live in their own home and pay most of their day-to-day
expenses with cash keeping little or no records of their expenditures.
DON'T BE A VICTIM OF THIS DRACONIAN LAW! CONTACT US TODAY!
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