Circuit Court Upholds Decision to Eliminate Exemption for Joint Assets

On December 1, I wrote an article, Medicaid Exclusion for Joint Assets Under Attack. That article addresses an instance where the State of Maryland Medicaid authority reversed its long time practice of disregarding jointly owned stock where a co-owner who is not the Medicaid applicant refused to sell such stock.  This exclusion is based upon a provision of the Maryland Medicaid Manual that allows for such treatment.

The matter was appealed and an administrative law judge upheld the decision of the Medicaid regulator, so the individual appealed to the Circuit Court of Maryland.  That court has now issued its opinion upholding the decision of the Administrative Law Judge.

My December 1, article concluded that: “This is not the proper way for the Medicaid authorities to change their policy. The proper way is to propose rule changes, either by changing the Code of Maryland Regulations, or by changing the Maryland Medicaid manual. Simply leaving a rule in place that exempts joint assets from consideration, but then attacking such an arrangement by imposing Medicaid ineligibility on a case-by-case basis on unsuspecting Medicaid applicants is bad public policy.”

Now that the Circuit Court has upheld the Administrative Law Judge’s decision, there is great uncertainty as to how jointly owned assets will be treated if one of the joint owners refuses to participate in a sale of such property.  If the Circuit Court ruling were to be treated as binding, then such exemption may no longer be in force, however, there still is a rule in the Medicaid Manual that allows such exemption.

William M. Gatesman stands ready to assist clients in navigating the troubled waters of the Medicaid rules in light of rapidly changing currents, the most recent being the Circuit Court decision eliminating the exemption for joint property where there is a refusal to sell by a co-owner.