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Category: Elder Law

Think Tank Urges Seniors to Look to Reverse Mortgages as Part of Retirement Plan

With what he sees as today’s seniors being “home-rich” but “cash-poor,” G. William Hoagland, senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), suggested that seniors look outside traditional forms of retirement planning and start thinking about reverse mortgages, according to an article from Reverse Mortgage Daily.

Speaking before a policy forum hosted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, Mr. Hoagland said the untapped home equity could provide senior homeowners with the financial resources that they need to set themselves up for retirement. “Home equity, we think, is underutilized in retirement planning,” he said.

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DDD and Medicaid

If a recipient needs services from the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), that recipient must qualify for Medicaid.   The changes enacted have affected many DDD recipients.

Any new DDD application is required to meet the functional criteria and have Medicaid eligibility before they can begin receiving any services. If a person already receives DDD benefits but has not secured Medicaid, that individual must become Medicaid eligible to ensure continuation of current services and prior to receiving any new service.

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Miller Trusts

Effective December 1, 2014, in order to qualify for Medicaid, the applicant whose income exceeds the monthly income cap under the Medicaid program must create a Miller Trust. The excess monthly income is essentially placed into a self-created Miller Trust and paid directly to the nursing home each month by the designated trustee.

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ABLE Act

On December 19, 2014, the President signed into law the Achieving a Better Life (ABLE) Act of 2014, which allows for disabled persons to have limited savings accounts, without jeopardizing any governmental benefits received by that disabled person.   The Treasury is to create regulations with respect to ABLE act accounts.   The ABLE account is intended to be similar to a 529 Plan.   There is a limit on what can be contributed to the account, but the disabled person would have the ability to withdraw monies from the account to meet his or her needs on an on-going basis.

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