Amber Hinds
What does “Actuarially Sound” Mean?
In a recent blog post, we explained what a Medicaid Compliant Annuity is. To summarize, in order for an annuity to be “Medicaid...
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Amber Hinds
A.M. Best Ratings
When purchasing a Medicaid Compliant Annuity, we often reference the insurance company’s A.M. Best Rating. A.M. Best is an American...
Amber Hinds
What Type of Assets Can be Used to Purchase a Medicaid Compliant Annuity (MCA)?
ANY! If your clients have money in checking accounts, savings accounts, CDs, brokerage accounts, stocks, bonds, whole life insurance...
Amber Hinds
Medicaid and Medicaid Planning Defined
Medicaid is the largest payer of long-term care expenses. With long-term care expenses continuing to rise, it is important to understand...
Amber Hinds
Medicaid Planning and Qualified Accounts
Medicaid Planning with retirement/pre-tax IRA accounts can be confusing, especially because each state treats these accounts a little...
Amber Hinds
Gifting & Medicaid Compliant Annuity Planning for an Individual Client
When implementing a Gifting & Medicaid Compliant Annuity (MCA) Plan for an individual client (no spouse), the goal is to maximize the...
Amber Hinds
Deficit Reduction Act outlines Different Rules for Retirement Annuities vs. Non-Retirement Annuities
A Medicaid Compliant Annuity (“MCA”) is an immediate annuity that converts excess countable resources into an income stream (i.e. a MCA...
Amber Hinds
Purchasing a Medicaid Compliant Annuity Pre-Snapshot vs. Post Snapshot
When planning for a married couple in a state that has a minimum and maximum Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA), the timing of...
Amber Hinds
Name on The Check Beneficiary Example
Thomas and Barbara Smith are married. Barbara is the owner of an IRA valued at $100,000 and she is the spouse that is in need of care. ...
Amber Hinds
Medicaid Annuity Beneficiary Designations
Most elder law attorneys are familiar with the fact that the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 outlined specific requirements for annuities...
Amber Hinds
New Jersey Medicaid Updates Penalty Divisor, Effective April 1, 2020
New Jersey Medicaid recently released Medicaid Communication NO. 20-05 updating the Penalty Divisor to $357.67 per day as of April 1,...
Amber Hinds
Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMNA): What Does it Mean and How do Calculate it?
In our previous blog post, we discussed how to calculate the Community Spouse’s Resource Allowance when dealing with a married couple...
Amber Hinds
How to Calculate the Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA)
When working with a married couple wherein one spouse is applying for Medicaid and the other spouse resides at home, we typically refer...
Amber Hinds
Medicaid: Countable Assets vs. Non-Countable Assets
Medicaid is a means-tested, federal-state health insurance program for low income and needy people. As with any means-tested government...
Amber Hinds
What is Name on The Check Rule?
For Medicaid planning purposes, income is attributed to the person whose “name is on the check”. If two names are on the check, income...
Amber Hinds
Planning Options for the Medicaid Applicant/Institutionalized Spouse’s Qualified Retirement Account
When implementing Medicaid planning for a married couple, typically one spouse is in a facility and the other spouse remains at home or...
Amber Hinds
Factors to Take into Consideration When Determining How Long to Structure A Community Spouse's MCA
In a married couple situation when one spouse is applying for Medicaid benefits and the other spouse remains at home in the community,...
Amber Hinds
Medicaid Planning with Qualified/IRA Retirement Accounts
Medicaid Crisis Planning is pretty simple when we’re dealing with post-tax accounts (checking, savings, CDs, etc.). Planning becomes...
Amber Hinds
Types of Assets that Can Be Used to Purchase a Medicaid Compliant Annuity
People often ask what type of assets/account can be used to purchase a Medicaid Compliant Annuity (MCA)? The simple answer is ANY! If...
Amber Hinds
SECURE Act
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act. Most...