The Asset, Transfer Dilemma: Disposal of Resources and Qualification for Medicaid Assistance
![handle is hein.journals/drklr36 and id is 379 raw text is: NOTES
THE ASSET TRANSFER DILEMMA: DISPOSAL OF
RESOURCES AND QUALIFICATION FOR MEDICAID
ASSISTANCE
Congress recognized the need for assistance to the medically indigent
and in 1965 established the Social Security Act as a cooperative federal and
state program to provide basic medical services to medicaid applicants.1
This program provides federal financial assistance to states that elect to re-
imburse specified costs for medical treatment of needy individuals.2 Partici-
pating states must each develop a plan containing reasonable standards for
determining eligibility8 and state plans must comply with the act and im-
plementing regulations.4 States entering into the Medicaid program have a
choice of whether to cover the medically needy group.0 In an effort to
control spending, many states now impose transfer of assets rules to prevent
the disposal of assets,6 and they may impose liens on transferred property
which would otherwise be unrecoverable. At the same time, they may pro-
vide for the termination of medical benefits for persons who transfer assets
to prevent the state from recovering the cost of the medical treatment from
the estate of the recipient after his or her death.6
1. Social Security Amendments of 1965, Pub. L. No. 89-97, 79 Stat. 343. See S. REP. No.
404, 89th Cong., 1st Sess. 9, reprinted in [1965] U.S.CoDE CONG. & AD. NEws 1943, 1950.
2. See generally 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq. (1982).
3. 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(17) (1982). See infra note 102 and accompanying text.
4. Schweiker v. Gray Panthers, 453 U.S. 34, 37 (1981).
5. 42 C.F.R. § 435.301(a) (1986) states:
A Medicaid agency may provide Medicaid to individuals specified in this subpart
who-
(1) either-
(i) have income that meets the applicable standards in §§ 435.812 [reasonableness]
through 435.814 [state plan requirements]; or
(ii) if their income is more than allowed under those standards, have incurred medical
expenses at least equal to the difference between their income and the applicable
income standard.
Id. (emphasis supplied).
6. See infra note 69 and accompanying text.
7. 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(a)(1) (1983).
8. 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(c) (1983). See infra note 45 and accompanying text.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/drklr36&div=26&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Asset, Transfer Dilemma: Disposal of Resources and Qualification for Medicaid Assistance
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