I will be providing training on Alabama Medicaid Estate Recovery on Tuesday, 09/20/22, at 10:00 a.m. Central time. If you feel like you could benefit from information on this topic be sure to register with the Middle Alabama Area Agency on Aging. Free CEUs are being offered for social workers, nursing home administrators, occupational therapists and physical therapists.
We will be examining how estate recovery works in Alabama, and who is at risk for losing property to repay benefits Medicaid pays on their behalf.
When a person applies for Medicaid the agency looks back at transfers the applicant made during the previous five years to determine if any property was given away or transferred for less than the value assigned by Medicaid. If so, a transfer penalty is incurred, and that means Medicaid will not pay for care for a length of time based on how much was transferred.
There are some permissible transfers allowed by law resulting in no penalty being imposed. These include:
The home when a child under 21, blind or disabled lives there; The home when a sibling with an equity interest was residing there for at least one year prior to the institutionalization; The home when a son or daughter of such claimant who was residing in the applicant’s home for a period of at least two years immediately before the date of applicant’s admission to the medical institution or nursing facility, and who provided care to such claimant which permitted the applicant to reside at home rather than in an institution or facility (the caregiver exemption);
Transfers of money into a Special Needs Trust.
Looking more closely at the caregiver child exemption, you often see children who have lived with the parent for many years to keep them safe at home and out of a nursing home who are concerned about their own security when the parent applies for Medicaid. If the child can meet the caregiver child standard, the home can be transferred to him or her without penalty, but often there is debt on the home preventing a transfer. The lesson here is to pay off debt on the home as quickly as possible to be able to take advantage of the caregiver child permissible transfer.
If the transfer cannot be done, and the parent goes in a nursing home, the property counts as a resource. But if the parent receives Home and Community Based Services through Medicaid the house does not count as a resource until the parent dies. At that time Medicaid will claim what it paid for the parent through Medicaid Estate Recovery. The only good news here is the estate recovery can be delayed until the caregiver child no longer lives in the home.
An advisory issued earlier this month warns people against using a series of adult portable bed rail models after at least three people — including one in a nursing home and another in an assisted living facility — were entangled in them and died of asphyxia.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission named the following 10 models of Mobility Transfer Systems adult portable bed rails in which it says users may become trapped, resulting in serious injury or death:
Freedom Grip (model 501)
Freedom Grip Plus (model 502)
Freedom Grip Travel (model 505)
Reversible Slant Rail (model 600)
Transfer Handle (model 2025)
Easy Adjustable (model 2500)
30-Inch Security Bed Rail, single-sided (model 5075)
30-Inch Security Bed Rail – Extra Tall, single-sided (model 5075T)
30-Inch SecurityBed Rail – Extra Tall, double-sided (model 5085T)
The Commission’s advisory “urges consumers to immediately stop use, disassemble, and dispose of” these bed rails, which have been on the market since 1992 and available through such online retailers as Walmart.com and Amazon.com.
To assist caregivers who are making arrangements for long term care a booklet concerning Alabama Medicaid is being made available to provide clarity for some of the issues that may arise and to provide basic information about the application process. The booklet is made available here and will remain available in the Publications section of our website. It can be read online or downloaded and printed.
The Veterans Administration has a federal and state program addressing health care needs of veterans and provides an option for long-term care.
There are four VA nursing facilities in Alabama:
Bill Nichols State Veterans Home in Alexander City;
William F. Green State Veterans Home in Bay Minette;
Floyd E. “Tut” Fann State Veterans Home in Huntsville; and
Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home in Pell City.
In the VA system State VA and Federal VA contribute toward the charged rate, leaving the veteran responsible for the remainder. Actually this VA system is a highly affordable nursing home care option after the state and federal government provide subsidies.
In 2019 the out of pocket cost for care in the VA facilities in Alexander City, Bay Minette and Huntsville is $355.02 per month, and the out of pocket cost for care in the Pell City facility is $732.
The average wait for a bed is four to five months for Alexander City; six months for Bay Minette; three to four months for Huntsville; and two to three years for Pell City.
In July 2019 The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs announced plans to build an additional $60 million veteran’s home on 27 acres in one of nine Southeast Alabama Wiregrass counties. The new nursing facility will provide care for 150 – 175 elderly veterans and will be located in either Barbour, Butler, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva, Houston or Pike County.
The VA is required to provide nursing home care to any veteran who needs that level of care because of a service-connected disability, has a combined disability rating of 70 percent or more or has a disability rating of at least 60 percent and is deemed unemployable or has been rated permanently and totally disabled. Other veterans in need of nursing home care will be provided services if resources are available after the priority groups are served.
Making a long-term care placement is often surprisingly complicated for those who have not previously made a placement. Finding an affordable facility to meet the needs of the person in need of care can be a challenge. Planning is critical to know what to look for and to understand cost of care and payment options for various levels of long-term care.
This e-book will provide information for those persons who will be eventually making a placement, and provide specific information for care in Alabama. It will remain available in Publications at this web site.
At the top of this page you will see a link to our Publications. There you will find an e-book recently published, Guide to Alabama Advance Directives. It can be downloaded and printed or read online. It explains the different ways a person can become an agent for another in Alabama and how to evaluate which document you may need. This e-book will remain available at Publications but is being posted here.
I want to make available to you a guide titled Managing Someone Else’s Money in Alabama. This guide was adapted from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Managing Someone Else’s Money guides and tailored to Alabama state law by members of The Alabama Interagency Council for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, Jones School of Law Elder law Clinic at Faulkner University and AARP Alabama. The work was overseen by Clinical Associate Professor John Craft, and his Research Assistant, Lauren Hogeland. Many thanks for their work helping caregivers understand their duties.
We have been working on a publishing project with Middle Alabama Area Agency on Aging (M4A) to produce dementia friendly resources for professionals and caregivers. This booklet was published in June 2017 and can be read here. To download you will need to go to the publishing platform, Issue, to create a free account or download the pdf here. Printed copies may be obtained by contacting M4A at (205) 670-5770 or toll free (866) 570-2998.
Last week I spoke to the alumni social workers group at The University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama, and shared information about authority and capacity issues for seniors. I promised to post additional information for reference on our web site, so here you have it.
The Alabama Uniform Power of Attorney Act effective January 1, 2012, is found at Alabama Code (1975) Sections 26-1A-101 through 404. The standard power of attorney form is found at Section 26–1A–301. This power is presumed durable without specific language being required like previous powers of attorney.
ALA. CODE § 26-1A-120(a)(3) provides that a person may not require an additional or different form of power of attorney for authority granted in the power of attorney presented, and a person who refuses to effect a transaction in reliance upon an acknowledged power of attorney may be subject a court order mandating that the person effect the transaction. If the document is found to be valid, attorneys fees and costs incurred may be awarded.
The Portable Physician Do Not Attempt Resuscitation Orders regulation is found at Board of Health 420-5-19-.02. Different facilities can continue to use their own forms, but for the order to be portable the statutory form provided in the regulation is required.
The capacity assessment materials I discussed produced by the American Bar Association and American Psychological Association can be found here.
What a great group of social workers I met, and I look forward to speaking again to the group in August.
Jan Neal Law Firm, LLC 