ODI Assists Families Locate Lost Life Insurance Policies

If you suspect a deceased loved one has a life insurance policy that you cannot locate, there is a service through the Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI) that can assist in identifying and locating the policy. ODI’s missing life policy search service is a comprehensive search service that assists Ohio residents, and the families of deceased Ohio residents, in locating lost insurance policies purchased in the state. The search identifies the existence of any life insurance policies or annuity contracts purchased in Ohio and issued on the life of, or owned by, a deceased person.

Since its implementation in September of 2009, the missing life policy search service has had 682 valid search requests, and have matched 442 polices with their rightful owners. Executors, legal representatives, or members of the deceased person’s immediate family may file a search request with the Department. To submit a request, visit the Missing Life Policy Search Service, page of ODI's website.  Go here to print out a request form.  Have the form notarized, attach a copy of the certified death certificate, and mail it to the Department.

The Department forwards the search requests and supporting documentation to all Ohio-licensed life insurance companies within 25 business days of submission. If an insurance company has information about an in-force individual insurance policy on the life of the deceased person or an individual annuity contract where the deceased person is an annuitant, the insurer is required to take action to administer the policy and/or contract according to its terms. If any money is to be paid to a beneficiary, the insurance company will contact the beneficiary directly. In this case, the company has 21 days to notify the consumer after contacting the Department.

Ohioans with questions about life insurance can call the Department's toll-free consumer hotline at 1-800-686-1526. A life insurance informational toolkit is also available on the Department's website. The toolkit provides tip sheets, publications, and links to other helpful web sites.

Using Your Social Security Benefits as an Interest-Free Loan

One little-known Social Security retirement benefits rule is the so-called “do-over rule.” Under this rule, an individual 62 years or older can start collecting benefits but stop the benefits within 12 months of the start, repay the benefits collected, and then still be eligible for their higher benefit amount when they collect at full retirement age or older.

What’s the advantage if the benefits must all be immediately repaid? The strategy can work as a short-term interest fee loan. It makes sense, for example, in cases where an individual has a need for income in the immediate short term, due to an emergency such as a sudden loss of employment, but they anticipate income, i.e. finding a new job or collecting a pension, within the year which would allow for full repayment. For many individuals in the their early 60s, a majority of their assets are tied up in retirement and investment accounts and withdrawals from these accounts would trigger hefty penalties. After “emergency” liquid funds run out, the do-over rule offers a short-term solution. In addition, by drawing on a Social Security “loan” instead of investments, you allow your investments to continue growing.

What if you are unable to pay back the benefits after the 12 months are up? You may still be able to suspend your benefits and increase your ultimate pay-out amount. For example, if you start collecting at 62 but no longer need the income at 66, you could suspend benefits until 70. Then, between the ages of 66 and 70, you would earn delayed retirement credits which would increase the ultimate benefit amount when you collect at age 70.

(Note that up until December 2010, it was possible for you to collect benefits and repay at any time. The law has since changed so that you are limited to a 12-month pay back period. You are also only allowed one “do-over.”)

For more information on how to collect, suspend and pay-back benefits, contact or visit your local Social Security district office. You can click here to find your local office.

Religious Music Aids the Dying

Listening to religious music helps seniors increase their life satisfaction and self-esteem, and decreases anxiety around death, according to new analysis published in the Journal of Gerontology.  Music also helped seniors appreciate a sense of control, according to researchers at Baylor University, University of Texas- San Antonio, Bowling Green State University and Duke University. The research suggests that long-term care residents may benefit from listening to religious music. Responses were collected among more than 1,000 adults, all over age 65, who were either practicing Christians, identified as Christian in their past, or who were unaffiliated with a specific faith.

"Given that religious music is available to most individuals — even those with health problems or physical limitations that might preclude participation in more formal aspects of religious life — it might be a valuable resource for promoting mental health later in the life course,” the authors concluded. Results appeared in The Journal of Gerontology.  

According to McNights Long-term Care News, a  2013 study, also published in the Journal of Gerontology, considering the use of religious songs in helping older African Americans cope with stressful life events, also found that songs evoking themes of thanksgiving, communication with God, and life after death improved the mental health of those studied.  These join a growing amount of research literature that associates various religious factors with positive mental and physical health, and even suggests that aspects of religious involvement may reduce mortality risk. 

Go here for an article discussing the broader Family and Psycho-Social Dimensions of Death and Dying in African Americans.

IRAs Can Affect Medicaid Eligibility

For many Medicaid applicants, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are one of their biggest assets. If you do not plan properly, IRAs can count as an available asset and affect Medicaid eligibility.

Medicaid applicants can have only a small amount of assets in order to be eligible to receive benefits ($2,000 in most states). Certain assets -- i.e., a house, car, and burial plot -- are exempt from eligibility determinations. Whether your IRA counts as an exempt asset depends on whether it is in "payout status" or not.

At age 70½, individuals must begin taking required minimum distributions from their IRAs, which means the IRA is in payout status. You may also be able to choose to put your IRA in payout status as young as age 59 ½ if you elect to take regular, periodic distributions based on life expectancy tables. If an IRA is in payout status, depending on your state, it may not count as an available asset for the purposes of Medicaid eligibility, but the payments you receive will count as income. Medicaid recipients are allowed to keep a tiny amount of income for personal use and the rest will go to the nursing home.

If the IRA is not in payout status, the IRA is a non-exempt asset, which means the total amount in the IRA will probably be counted as an asset, affecting your Medicaid eligibility. In order to qualify for Medicaid, you will need to cash out your IRA and spend down the assets. Alternatively, you could transfer the money to your spouse or someone else, although there will likely be an income tax penalty for doing this.  

Note that the rules for a Roth IRA may be different. If you have a Roth IRA, depending on the rules in your state, it may not be exempt at all because Roth IRAs do not require minimum distributions.

The rules regarding IRAs and Medicaid are complicated and vary from state to state. You should talk to your attorney about your IRA to determine the best course of action for you. 

For more information on retirement planning, click here.

For more on Medicaid's rules, click here.

CNA's Face Prison for Stealing Nursing Home Residents' Identities and Defrauding Government

Three former nursing home aides face prison time for stealing residents' identities and conning the government. The Georgia women obtained residents' personal identification information from the nursing home where they worked as certified nursing assistants, and they used the information to file fraudulent tax returns, according to court papers and evidence introduced at trial. The DOJ did not name the facility where the women worked.

One of the defendants, Kimberly Banks, was convicted after a one-week trial in January. She received a 192-month prison sentence on Thursday, announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore for the Middle District of Georgia.

The other two defendants, Donalene Mosely and Arneshia Austin, entered guilty pleas to conspiracy prior to trial, according to the prosecutors. They received 37-month and 21-month prison sentences, respectively. The three former CNAs also have been ordered to pay about $275,000 in restitution.

Of course, repayment may not be forthcpming. The women used refunds from the fraudulent returns to make car and mortgage payments, buy products online, and throw a “red carpet party,” the Department of Justice stated in a news release. They raised more than $600,000 by filing nearly 200 false returns.

This is the second nursing home identification theft case to come out of Georgia recently. In January, Yolando Blount received a 27-year prison sentence for her role in a similar but unrelated scheme.