Medicaid Compliant Annuities
What is a Medicaid Compliant Annuity?
A Medicaid Compliant Annuity is a planning tool offered by a limited number of insurance companies. The Medicaid Compliant Annuity was designed to convert a spend-down amount into an income stream. With the spend-down amount eliminated, the nursing home resident/Medicaid applicant becomes eligible for Medicaid benefits.
What is the history behind a Medicaid Compliant Annuity?
The history behind a Medicaid Compliant Annuity first began with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 ("OBRA 93"), wherein Congress delegated the Medicaid treatment of annuities to the Secretary of Health and Human Services ("HHS"). As a result, in November 1994, the Secretary of Health Care Financing Administration ("HCFA") issued Transmittal 64, which was the Secretary's determination as to when an annuity purchase involved a transfer of assets, to-wit:
"Annuities, although usually purchased in order to provide a source of income for retirement, are occasionally used to shelter assets so that individuals purchasing them can become eligible for Medicaid. In order to avoid penalizing annuities validly purchased as part of a retirement plan but to capture those annuities which abusively shelter assets, a determination must be made with regard to the ultimate purchase of the annuity (i.e., whether the purchase of the annuity constitutes a transfer of assets for less than fair market value). If the expected return on the annuity is commensurate with a reasonable estimate of the life expectancy of the beneficiary, the annuity can be deemed actuarially sound."
The result of HCFA Transmittal 64 is that in order for an annuity to be Medicaid Compliant it must be "actuarially sound". The actuarially sound test is easily satisfied by showing that the individual who purchased the annuity will receive back his or her entire investment within his or her Medicaid life expectancy.
With implementation of The Deficit Reduction Act 2005 (DRA 05) of in February of 2006, the actuarially sound test outlined in HCFA Transmittal 64 was continued, subject to several modifications:
• It clarifies and codifies the rules regarding when an annuity transaction is to be treated as a transfer for less than fair value.
• It requires that the state be named as remainder beneficiary (subject to the preferred interest of the community spouse and minor and disabled children) to the extent of benefits paid.
• It requires that applicants for Medicaid funded long-term care disclose their interest in annuities.
Additionally, DRA 05 also gave special treatment to annuities purchased with the proceeds of certain retirement plan accounts.
Generally speaking, the DRA 05 rules now require that if an annuity funded with non-qualified dollars is to be deemed "DRA Compliant", it must meet the following requirements:
• It must be irrevocable and non-assignable;
• It is actuarially sound;
• It must provide for payments in equal amounts, with no deferral and no balloon payments; and
• It must name the state Medicaid Program as the primary beneficiary to the extent that medical assistance benefits were provided to the institutionalized individual.
Finally, to assist those individuals in determining whether an annuity is DRA 05 Compliant, in July 2006, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") issued a letter to the state Medicaid Directors which provided guidance regarding CMS interpretation of the transfer and annuity provisions of DRA 05.
The CMS letter is available at http://paannuity.com/pdf/cms_transfer_of_assets.pdf
|
Attorney Login
|
