The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has recently held that Medicaid officials have to accept the short-term annuities that applicants submit. Immediate annuities are tools that estate planners use to help nursing home residents that are married qualify for Medicaid while safeguarding the standard of living enjoyed by the healthy spouse. There have been some states, like Pennsylvania, that have imposed a transfer penalty on these types of transactions. This recent court decision has now done away with this transfer penalty. There are still a number of stringent requirements that a person must meet so that their short-term annuities can be accepted as legitimate by Medicaid authorities. It is a good idea to consult with a competent estate planning attorney to see if this might be the right strategy to adopt.
See Court Approves Use Of Short-Term Annuities for Medicaid Planning, Elder Law Answers, September 18, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
