Bill > A2641

Introduced Session

This bill permits individuals to transfer up to $500 in assets per calendar month during the 60 month look back period prior to receiving Medicaid coverage for long-term care services without being subject to a period of ineligibility. State and federal law requires a look-back period of 60 months from the date of an individual's application for Medicaid long-term care benefits to determine whether the individual has transferred financial resources to other individuals. (The bill also revises the State statute to conform with federal law extending the 60 month look-back period to all asset transfers.) Unauthorized resources transfers may result in a penalty period during which the individual may not receive Medicaid coverage of long-term care services. Federal law permits states to exclude certain transfers made for less than fair consideration, which are called "de minimis gifts," on the assumption that gifts or transfers under a certain amount of money would not be presumed to be made in contemplation of future Medicaid eligibility. New Jersey does not currently have a clear standard regarding such transfers, effectively leaving decisions about whether certain gifts will result in a penalty to the county welfare agencies. The lack of a clear standard also results in applicants resorting to the fair hearing process to resolve disputes, which may be costly for both the applicant and the State. The bill also provides that, if a county welfare agency deems a Medicaid application incomplete on the basis of incomplete or missing information, the agency will be required to provide the applicant with notice that the application was deemed incomplete, identify the information that is incomplete or missing, and inform the applicant that this information can be provided at any time and that the application will be reviewed when the incomplete or missing information is provided. The bill expressly requires the agency to review an application deemed incomplete upon receipt of all information identified as incomplete or missing.

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Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health Committee (on 02/13/2020)