Category: Estate Planning
MA-EPD Law Updates Expand Eligibility for Coverage
December 17, 2024 | Cathryn Reher
We are nearing one year since the Minnesota Department of Human Services expanded those persons with disabilities who may qualify for Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD). Persons with disabilities participating in MA-EPD must have an earned monthly income of $65.01 or more. This program provides for not only state plan health coverage but also waivered services through CADI, CAC, BI, and DD waivers. The 2024 law change removed any asset limit to qualify. For self-employed persons, there was a mid-year law change that self-employment tax filings suffice as proof of appropriate tax withholdings. The most amazing aspect of the 2024 law changes is that MA-EPD became available to persons residing in skilled nursing facilities (nursing homes) as well as community-based settings. Our firm has successfully converted several clients from community-based MA-EPD to MA-EPD while residing in a skilled nursing facility. As an example, a long-term CADI client needed more care and entered a nursing home. His MA-EPD premium was $68. We assisted with his conversion to a nursing home on MA-EPD, where his monthly obligation remained $68. The client was not required to pay the alternative long-term care income spenddown, which would have been approximately $1,526. The reserved income is being used to pay for a private room as well!…
Read MoreChanges Are Coming to Medicare Part D
November 14, 2024 | Cathryn Reher
The Good and Bad of These Changes First, the good news: the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will cap the out-of-pocket maximum at $2,000 for all Medicare Part D plans starting January 1, 2025. Medicare Part D plans provide coverage to enrollees for prescription drugs. This will enable Medicare Part D enrollees to better budget if they have had historically high out-of-pocket prescription drug costs. The difficulty of the law change will be the impact for those who are Medicare-eligible but are enrolled through an employer or other health insurance plans. These plans are required to provide health insurance coverage that is just as good or better than Medicare standards. A plan that is as good or better than Medicare standards represents “creditable alternative coverage.” If a plan is not creditable, individuals run the risk of accruing a Late Enrollment Penalty (LEP) for each month they are not enrolled in a plan providing creditable coverage. The specific concern with the Part D law change is that prescription drug coverage under alternative insurance plans may not be as good as the new Medicare Part D coverage and therefore may not meet the creditable alternative coverage requirement. This would then require individuals to drop their employer or other health insurance plans, which are generally more cost-effective than Medicare health insurance plans. The…
Read MoreHow to Coordinate Business Succession & Estate Planning
October 30, 2024 | Carole Clark Isakson
At some point, many business owners execute a will or trust to provide for the disposition of their personal assets. Those dispositions will either specifically or generally deal with their business ownership interests as well. However, business succession planning is also affected by an entity’s governing documents. This blog addresses the possible conflicts between the entity documents and the individual owner’s estate planning documents. Make sure your business attorney and estate planning attorney are each aware of your plans so you can avoid such conflicts. Governing Documents Affect Business Succession Planning When a business owner makes an estate plan, they must decide where all their assets are to go, including ownership in the business. The owner—let’s call her Sam—may wish to leave half of XYZ Properties to her three children for their benefit. So, Sam’s will or trust will state that her ownership interests in the company (or perhaps simply all her assets) are to be divided equally among her three children. Whether or not this will actually happen depends on the governing documents of XYZ Properties. There are several forms of business entities. But no matter the type of business, the owner(s) intentionally created it, and in cases where there is more than one owner, the owner intentionally chose the other person(s) with whom…
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