1 Thurber St
Warwick, RI 02886
USA
Program Description
Get the Latest on Medicaid Application and Asset Planning Tactics
Middle class Americans seeking asset protection cannot afford to ignore the potentially devastating costs of nursing home and other long-term care. Nursing homes are among the most common and largest creditors an average American is likely to face in his or her lifetime, but only about 10% of the population has long-term care insurance. For the other 90%, Medicaid is the primary source of payment, so a basic understanding of the Medicaid asset protection process is vital for all professionals who work with seniors and their families. This course will provide an overview of asset protection concepts and strategies that elder law attorneys can use to legally and ethically protect assets while facilitating earlier Medicaid eligibility; and a set of crisis-management tools to prevent and correct inadvertent loss of benefits. Register today!
- Learn what the income eligibility requirements are when applying for Medicaid.
- Protect your clients’ interests by knowing what’s exempt and what’s not.
- Employ the most practical and effective asset transfer methods to comply with the spend-down requirement.
- Explore crisis planning methods to restore Medicaid benefits as quickly as possible.
- Guide clients through the Medicaid qualification process by knowing what’s involved.
Who Should Attend
This basic-to-intermediate level seminar is designed for:
- Attorneys
- Nursing Home Administrators
- Social Workers
- Geriatric Care Managers
- Trust Officers
- Accountants and CPAs
- Estate and Financial Planners
- Paralegals
Course Content
- Applying for Medicaid – The Four Eligibility Requirements
- Pre-Need Asset Planning
- Crisis Planning and Assistance
- Trust-Based Medicaid Planning in Detail
- Using Special Needs Trusts – Sample Trust Review
- Applied Legal Ethics
Continuing Education Credit
Continuing Legal Education – CLE: 7.00 *
Financial Planners – Financial Planners: 7.00
National Association of State Boards of Accountancy – CPE for Accountants/NASBA: 7.00 *
* denotes specialty credits
Agenda / Content Covered
- Applying for Medicaid – The Four Eligibility Requirements
9:00 – 10:00, Matthew J. Leonard- Medical Eligibility: The Needs Assessment
- Resource Eligibility: Exempt vs. Countable Assets
- Income Eligibility
- Transfer Eligibility
- The Lookback Periods
- Transfers and Penalty Periods
- Transfer Penalty
- Penalty Beginning Date
- Partial Months of Ineligibility
- Monthly Maintenance Need Allowance (MMMNA) for the Community Spouse
- Annuity Transfer Rules and Tactics
- Estate Recovery Rules
- Affordable Care Act and PACE Program and Eligibility
- Pre-Need Asset Planning
10:15 – 11:15, Eric D. Correira
- Medicaid Planning for Single vs. Married Applicants
- Transferring Real Property without Jeopardizing Medicaid Eligibility
- When Does the Home Become a Countable Asset?
- How is “Intent to Return Home” Interpreted?
- Titling of the Home and Basic Homestead Issues in a Medicaid Planning Context
- Life Estates
- Asset Valuation – Fair Market Value under DRA
- Using Life Insurance to Spend Down
- Interstate Transfers
- Protecting Veterans Benefits
- The Gifting Powers in Powers of Attorney
- Crisis Planning and Assistance
11:15 – 12:15, Matthew J. Leonard- Asset Purchase Strategies Available
- Purchases
- Payments
- Asset Transfer Strategies Available
- How to Transfer Residence to Caregiver Child
- How to Transfer Residence to Sibling with Equity Interest Who’s Resided There for at Least One Year
- How to Transfer Residence Subject to Life Estate
- How to Transfer Residence Subject to Occupancy Agreement
- Caregiver Agreement between Parent and Child
- Contesting/Appealing the Penalty Period Dates and Other Adverse Medicaid Decisions
- Asset Purchase Strategies Available
- Trust-Based Medicaid Planning in Detail
1:15 – 2:15, Eric D. Correira- Choosing the Assets for Funding the Trusts
- Key Provisions and Sample Trust Language
- Self-Settled Trusts and Their Impact on Eligibility
- Using Income-Only Trusts
- Purpose of Using IOTs
- Principal Distribution Provision
- Taxation of IOTs
- Income Taxation and Tax Reporting
- Gift Tax and Reporting
- Using Special Needs Trusts – Sample Trust Review
2:30 – 3:30, Eric D. Correira- When Can SNTs be Used?
- Drafting an SNT – Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Documenting the Assets Transfer into the Trust
- Choosing a Suitable Trustee
- Sample Special Needs Trust Document Review
- Applied Legal Ethics
3:30 – 4:30, Matthew J. Leonard- Avoiding Conflicts of Interest (Who is Your Client?)
- Dealing with Clients’ Diminishing Mental Capacity
- Spotting and Preventing Elder Abuse
- Appropriate Client Communications
- Navigating through Family Conflict
- Setting and Collecting Attorney Fees