Public benefits are usually means-tested welfare benefits for people who need assistance. Typically they are taken from general tax dollars, which is why they are treated differently from entitlement programs. Public benefits include:
- Medicaid;
- Supplemental Security Income;
- Housing Assistance;
- Food Stamps;
- Unemployment Benefits; and
- VA Aid and Attendance.
Benefits you paid for through payroll deductions are entitlements. They include Medicare, Social Security Disability (SSDI), Social Security Retirement and Railroad Retirement.
Elder Law Attorneys and Special Needs Law Attorneys frequently use tools like special needs trusts or engage in Medicaid Planning to help older adults and individuals with special needs access public benefits. We’re still building this website, so if we haven’t answered your questions yet on one of our main pages or in a blog post, contact us at websupport@ezelderlaw.com.
- BLOG POSTS
Home purchased after nursing home admission was not an exempt homeplace
0 commentsIn a Texas case decided on May 3, 2024, the Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and trial court, siding with the Medicaid agency on whether a home purchased after admission to a nursing home was exempt. Clyde and Dorothy Burt sold their home to their daughter and moved into a rental property. […]
Preliminary injunction granted barring state from terminating QI Medicaid
0 commentsIn Parker v. Louisiana Department of Health (April 30, 2024), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana granted a motion for preliminary injunction prohibiting the State from terminating a grandmother’s QI Medicaid based on the State’s determination of family size. The Plaintiff, a 71 year old widow who was raising her grandchild, […]
SSI Decisions finding no penalty where beneficiary over 65 funds a pooled trust sub-account
0 commentsThe federal Medicaid statute authorizes the use of individual self-settled special needs trusts for individuals under the age of 65. See 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)(A). It also authorizes any applicant, regardless of age, to establish a self-settled pooled special needs trust sub-account. 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)(C). An open question not addressed in (d)(4)(C) is whether […]
Example of Georgia Medicaid Lien Inquiry
0 commentsIf someone is receiving Medicaid and was injured through the negligence of others, Medicaid asserts a third-party claim against any recovery, whether by settlement or verdict. This is sometimes known as a Medicaid lien. The form shown below is one currently used by Georgia Medicaid when investigating whether a third-party claim exists.
Social Security Revises Policy on Recoverying Overpayments
The Social Security Administration pays various benefits including retirement benefits, disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income. An overpayment occurs when you receive more money than you should have been paid. In those cases, Sociai Security is required to seek recovery of the overpayment unless an exception applies allowing it to “forgive” (waive) the overpayment. Under […]
Updated Georgia Penalty Divisor Effective April 1, 2024
Effective April 1, 2024, the statewide averaged nursing facility private pay rate used in determining the penalty period for institutionalized individuals (nursing facility and home and community-based waiver programs) who transfer assets for less than the fair market value will increase from $9,584.00 to $10,025.00.
New Form Approving Special Needs Trust Accounting
Recently we received a document we haven’t seen before which informs Medicaid recipients that their special needs trust accounting was approved. Obviously, there is probably a different form telling some individuals that their accounting was not approved, but we haven’t seen that form yet. The new form is below:
SSI to Remove Food as In-Kind Support and Maintenance
On March 27, 2024, the Social Security Administration published a final rule in the Federal Register which changes its calculation of In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM). Under the prior rule, if food and/or shelter is provided to a recipient of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the income is deemed to the recipient, reducing his or her […]
Is a Community Spouse required to name the State as remainder beneficiary of an annuity?
A Petition for writ of certiorari in the case of Dermody v. Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. The issue is “Whether an annuity that satisfies the condition in 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(c)(2)(B)(i) determining the Medicaid eligibility of a married institutionalized person must name the state […]
Georgia Medicaid Manual Updated with Transmittal 71
On November 17, 2023, Georgia issued Manual Transmittal 71, updating its Medicaid Manual, making technical changes to the following sections. The following sections were updated: 2054 – Emergency Medical Assistance 2060 – ABD Medicaid Application Processing 2101 – ABD Medicaid Classes of Assistance Overview 2111 – SSI Medicaid 2135 – Hospice Medicaid 2143 – QMB […]
