A New Jersey appeals court holds that the caregiver exemption does not apply to a Medicaid applicant who could not document that her condition required her daughter to care for her for a full two years before she entered a nursing home. R.K. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (N.J. Super. Ct., App. Div., No. A-2881-17T1, Dec. 5, 2019).
R.K. transferred her home to her daughter in 2011. Her daughter cared for her in her home until April 2015, when she entered a nursing home and applied for Medicaid. The state imposed a penalty period due to the transfer of the house.
R.K. appealed, arguing that because her daughter had cared for her for two years before she entered the nursing home, the caregiver exemption should apply to the transfer of the house. At the hearing, the administrative law judge (ALJ) determined that the caregiver exemption should apply, relying on records that R.K. received hospice care beginning in November 2013. The state rejected the ALJ’s determination because R.K. provided no records of her condition from March 2013 to November 2013. R.K. appealed.
The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, affirms the penalty period. According to the court, because “there were no medical records demonstrating that R.K. required a special level of care from March 2013 up to November 2013,” R.K. did not demonstrate that her daughter “provided a level of care that allowed R.K. to reside at home rather than an institution or facility” for a full two years.
For the full text of this decision, go to: https://njcourts.gov/attorneys/assets/opinions/appellate/unpublished/a2881-17.pdf?c=wHP
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