Excerpt from The Academy of Special Needs Planners:
The Maryland legislature has responded to the Department of Mental Health and Hygiene's attempt to limit the use of pooled trusts by passing a law that officially encourages the use of special needs trusts by people with disabilities, prohibits the Department from setting limits on the amount of money a person with disabilities can transfer into a pooled trust, and bars the Department from assessing a transfer penalty if a person who is over 65 transfers his assets into a pooled trust. The law, which was signed by Governor Martin O'Malley on May 19, 2011, will also prevent any state agency that provides services to people with disabilities from adopting regulations that are more stringent than existing federal law, regulations or policies with regard to the treatment of special needs trusts.
According to Maryland elder law attorney Jason Frank, the bill had its genesis when harsh regulations were proposed in January that would have, among other provisions, capped the accounts that could be transferred into (d)(4)(C) trusts at $100,000, barred the use of trust funds -- both ((d)(4)(A) and (C) -- for food and shelter and eliminated 65+ Medicaid enrollees from utilizing (d)(4)(C) trusts. (Federal law allows trustees to purchase food and shelter with trust funds, subject to the presumed maximum value rule.)
"We were able to get the sympathetic ears of two legislators in each House and they agreed to sponsor the bill," Mr. Frank told ASNP. "The regs were withdrawn, with every intention of bringing them back in substantially the same form. Meanwhile, the bill passed, with only one substantive amendment, without opposition in both Houses. I don't know whether it simply passed under the radar of the MA folks or not. They didn't even appear at the first hearing, just sent a letter opposing it."
Comments