A New Jersey appeals court rules that a penalty period is appropriate because there is no evidence to support a Medicaid applicant's claim that she transferred assets to her daughter as a loan and to pay for her granddaughter's college fund. M.C. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (N.J. Super. Ct., App. Div., No. A-1755-14T3, Dec. 13, 2016).
M.C. entered a nursing home and applied for Medicaid. The state imposed a 623-day penalty period, finding she made transfers within the look-back period. M.C. did not appeal, but she reapplied a year later. The state reaffirmed the penalty period, and M.C. appealed.
At a hearing, M.C.'s daughter testified that the transfers were made to establish a college fund for M.C.'s granddaughter and as a loan to the daughter. The administrative law judge ruled that because there was no evidence of a loan, M.C. did not overcome the presumption that the transfers were made to qualify for Medicaid. The state affirmed the penalty period, and M.C. appealed to court.
The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, upholds the penalty period. According to the court, the "record is devoid of convincing evidence that the assets were transferred exclusively for a purpose other than to establish Medicaid eligibility. There is also no documentary proof that the loan was repaid, nor that a college fund was established."
For the full text of this decision, go to: https://njlaw.rutgers.edu/collections/courts/appellate/a1755-14.opn.html
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