Probate & Trust Law Section Conference Manual ... - Minnesota CLE

applicant is eligible for benefits back to the first day of the month. That is current
month coverage, not retroactive coverage. Retroactive coverage is coverage for a
month prior to the month of application. Under current law, if there are excess
assets in the month of application, 25 they can be reduced in any way, which does
not cause a period of ineligibility for benefits. This means that excess assets can
be reduced on anything for value up to the day before the day of application for
benefits. This allows the excess assets to be used to pay medical expenses for
months prior to the month of application, credit card debt, household expenses and
other liabilities. This change continues to be blocked by the ACA MOE. The
amendment would make clear that excess assets in the month of application could
be used only to pay bills incurred for health services in the month of application or
the retroactive period, if retroactive coverage is requested. If current coverage is
requested, excess assets could no longer be used to establish a funeral account (a
separate bank account designated for funeral and holding no more than $1,500)
and the remaining excess assets could be used only to pay bills for health services
incurred during the 45 or 60 day period required by Rule 9505.0090 for the
processing of an application which would otherwise be paid by medical assistance.
This change, if implemented, would require excess assets to be reduced prior to
the end of the month before the month of application if they are needed to pay
other bills. Excess assets in the month of application could only be used to relieve
the medical assistance program of expenses it otherwise would be required to pay.
B. LIMITING USE OF CURRENT INCOME TO PAY OLD MEDICAL
EXPENSES
Laws 2009, Ch. 79, Art. 5, Sec. 20, amending Minn. Stat. § 256B.0575
Federal law allows a recipient's current income to be used to pay "necessary
medical or remedial care recognized under State law but not covered under
the State plan . . . subject to reasonable limits the State may establish on the
amount of these expenses." 42 U.S.C. 1396a(r)(1)(A)(ii). In 2007, the
University of St. Thomas Law School Legal Aid Clinic forced Hennepin County to
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Several counties have misapplied the concept of "excess assets." Excess assets are determined
as of the date of application for medical assistance. Excess assets do not exist prior to the
date of application. Some counties treat uncompensated transfers made in the month of
application but prior to the application date as excess assets, and delay the start date of benefits to
the first day of the month following the month of application. If an applicant meets all MA
eligibility criteria by the last day of the month, eligibility starts on the first day of that month, and
the penalty period for any uncompensated transfers during the look-back period, including such
transfers in the month of application, start on the first day of the same month. See the Decision
of State Agency in Appeal of D.E. for Medical Assistance Long-term Care, cited and discussed
earlier in these materials.
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