Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Medicaid estate planning to face increased scrutiny
[Kevin Freking, "GOP Wants to Curb Medicaid Estate Planning," Associated Press, The Guardian Unlimited, 28 April 2005.]
What sense does it make buy long term care insurance when - with the help of a lawyer - you can save your money and finagle your way into private care beds at government expense? That's a very good question:
GOP members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked state Medicaid directors on Wednesday what they have done to curb "Medicaid estate planning," in which assets are transferred so people look poor on paper and thus qualify for Medicaid.
Medicaid is expected to grow at a rate of 7.4 percent annually over the coming decade.
The Bush administration has estimated that changing the policy on the transfer of assets could save taxpayers $4.5 billion over that time.
Many experts say there are no solid estimates of how many people use estate planners to make themselves Medicaid eligible. "Do we really think that today's nursing homes are filled with scheming seniors who are free-riding on the taxpayers' dime?" said Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. "There will always be people who work the system, but most Medicaid beneficiaries do not want to be Medicaid beneficiaries. They have no choice."
"Just go on Google and put in quotes 'Medicaid planning,' or 'Medicaid estate planning,' and see how many hits you get," said Stephen Moses of the Center for Long-Term Care Financing, a think tank based in Seattle. "That'll show how extensive it is."
The answer to his challenge for the phrase "Medicaid estate planning" was about 602,000 hits.
Under current law, the government reviews for three years whether a Medicaid applicant has transferred assets.
One proposal would lengthen that review to five years. A second would extend the amount of time the government can withhold Medicaid eligibility when asset transfers occur.
Some lawmakers said they want to make it more attractive for people to buy long-term care insurance or to use reverse mortgages, in which homeowners take out a loan that is repaid only after the last surviving borrower dies or sells the property. Such mortgages allow people to tap the equity built up.
[Stephen A. Moses, "Project Proposal: Controlling Medicaid Long-Term Care Costs," The Flint Hills Center, January 2004.]
[Kevin Freking, "GOP Wants to Curb Medicaid Estate Planning," Associated Press, The Guardian Unlimited, 28 April 2005.]
What sense does it make buy long term care insurance when - with the help of a lawyer - you can save your money and finagle your way into private care beds at government expense? That's a very good question:
GOP members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked state Medicaid directors on Wednesday what they have done to curb "Medicaid estate planning," in which assets are transferred so people look poor on paper and thus qualify for Medicaid.
Medicaid is expected to grow at a rate of 7.4 percent annually over the coming decade.
The Bush administration has estimated that changing the policy on the transfer of assets could save taxpayers $4.5 billion over that time.
Many experts say there are no solid estimates of how many people use estate planners to make themselves Medicaid eligible. "Do we really think that today's nursing homes are filled with scheming seniors who are free-riding on the taxpayers' dime?" said Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. "There will always be people who work the system, but most Medicaid beneficiaries do not want to be Medicaid beneficiaries. They have no choice."
"Just go on Google and put in quotes 'Medicaid planning,' or 'Medicaid estate planning,' and see how many hits you get," said Stephen Moses of the Center for Long-Term Care Financing, a think tank based in Seattle. "That'll show how extensive it is."
The answer to his challenge for the phrase "Medicaid estate planning" was about 602,000 hits.
Under current law, the government reviews for three years whether a Medicaid applicant has transferred assets.
One proposal would lengthen that review to five years. A second would extend the amount of time the government can withhold Medicaid eligibility when asset transfers occur.
Some lawmakers said they want to make it more attractive for people to buy long-term care insurance or to use reverse mortgages, in which homeowners take out a loan that is repaid only after the last surviving borrower dies or sells the property. Such mortgages allow people to tap the equity built up.
[Stephen A. Moses, "Project Proposal: Controlling Medicaid Long-Term Care Costs," The Flint Hills Center, January 2004.]
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