Medicaid Annuities Part II

            As I stated in last week’s newsletter, Medicaid annuities are BACK! (Click here to read it). That’s great for our clients; and, if you sell annuities, it’s good for you.

            Do you know what a Medicaid compliant annuity is?

            If you are like 95% or more of the industry, you don’t know why and when you would use one to help your clients.  Since it is IMPOSSIBLE to give complete estate or financial planning advice without knowing what one is, this should be a very important newsletter for most readers.

            Why don’t most advisors know about Medicaid annuities?

            As I stated last week, when the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) was finally enacted in 2006, it severely curtailed the ability to use Medicaid annuities.  Additionally, even when these annuities were more useful, only a handful of insurance companies offered them.  Finally, there is no educational body today that educates on them (Besides The Wealth Preservation Institute). 

            What is a Medicaid compliant annuity?

            It’s a uniquely designed Single Premium Immediate Annuity (SPIA) (or a deferred annuity that can be converted to a compliant SPIA).  The unique aspect of a Medicaid compliant annuity is that it must pay out over the annuitant’s life expectancy (only option).  The annuity must also have the following characteristics:

-It must be irrevocable and non-assignable; -It is actuarially sound; -It must provide for payments in equal amounts, with no deferral and no balloon payments; and -It must name the state Medicaid Program as the primary beneficiary to the extent that medical assistance benefits were provided to the institutionalized individual (certain exceptions may apply).

             Why use Medicaid annuities?

            When a senior client is getting ready to enter a nursing home, the question then becomes, “How can he/she receive financial aid?”  The way to receive financial aid is to have no assets or the “right” assets.   The wrong assets are stocks, mutual funds, CDs, money market accounts, and, yes, IRA or qualified plan money. 

            Married couples who have more than $109,560 of the above-listed “countable” assets are not going to receive aid until they “spend down” their assets to meet these minimums. 

            Guess what is NOT a countable asset?   Properly used/structured Medicaid annuities. Therefore, for many clients, Medicaid planning will consist of repositioning countable assets into properly structured Medicaid annuities so they can then become eligible for Medicaid benefits. 

            July 2009 court case (why Medicaid annuities are BACK)

            Until recently, it was thought by many that the spouse staying in the marital residence had to impoverish him/herself in order for the nursing homebound spouse to receive aid.

            In July 2009, a state Circuit Court of Appeals case sided with the Department of Jobs and Family Services (agency that handles Medicaid services).  The Court of Appeals confirmed what the Federal Law said which was that monies in the family’s combined asset base can be used for an income annuity for the “well spouse” (non-nursing homebound spouse) as long as it follows the statutory guidelines (stated above).  Even if these monies are greater than the asset allocation for the well spouse, if you follow the Medicaid Compliant rules, the annuity is OK.

            What does this mean?  It means that couples will be able to reposition tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars into Medicaid annuities and NOT have the income from the annuities count against the aid a nursing homebound spouse can receive. 

            In other words, this is a big deal for clients and a HUGE opportunity for advisors (because virtually no advisors know what you are reading in this newsletter).  Having the ability to write single and flexible premium deferred annuities that are convertible to SPIAs with no surrender charges is NIRVANA for advisors with senior clients!

Download a Case Study

            To download a two-page case study showing you an example of how to properly use a Medicaid annuity, please click here. 

Turnkey Marketing Platform

            ECA has exclusive access “Medicaid Planning Coach,” and access to the ONLY turnkey Medicaid planning marketing platform in the industry today.  This is a new platform (remember the Court of Appeals court case was just recently decided) and that means there will be a tremendous opportunity for those who get on board with it.

            To sign up for more information on Medicaid planning and the turnkey platform, please click here.

Medicaid Annuity Planning Webinar
On Recoding

            To attend a webinar so you can learn more about Medicaid planning using Medicaid compliant annuities (as well as more about the turnkey marketing platform), please click here.