Congress is considering making it harder to qualify for Medicaid if a community spouse has an annuity. The change is part of an effort to close what Congress considers "loopholes" in Medicaid law.
The proposed bill aims to prevent married couples from using assets to purchase an annuity for the community spouse, so that the institutionalized spouse can apply for Medicaid. The bill would count half of the income from a community spouse's annuity as income available to the institutionalized spouse for purposes of Medicaid eligibility. The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on February 1, 2017, to consider the changes. It is unclear how eligibility will be changed since income can not be "liquidated" to pay for care. Regardless, the proposed changes would mean that married couples would have one less tool available to create an adequate safety net for a community spouse affected by nursing home spend down.
Along with limiting spousal annuities, Congress is also considering bills to count lottery winnings as income and require Medicaid applicants to prove U.S. citizenship or residency before receiving benefits.
For more information about the proposed legislation, click here.
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