Plan To Be 100

Today, May 11, 2023, marks the end of the public health emergency that began when COVID kicked in just over three years ago.

While there are many implications of this event, for Michigan lawyers in the Medicaid planning arena, this means at least two things:

1. Clients receiving Medicaid long term care benefits will now return to having to file annual redeterminations.  Redeterminations are expected to start June 1, 2023.   They will presumably be required in the month of original eligibility, as was the procedure before the PHE began. For people on Medicaid who have allowed their countable assets to climb over the $2,000 mark or who have engaged in divestment during the intervening three years, continued eligibility may be a concern.

2. It is also expected that the end of the PHE will allow for the long-stalled implementation of a divestment policy to Medicaid beneficiaries on PACE.  Historically, divestment has not been a concern for persons obtaining Medicaid benefits through the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (“PACE”).  Shortly into the PHE, DHHS announced an intent to impose such a policy, but that has been stalled. It is expected that now that the PHE is over, that policy will be implemented.  The details of how the policy will be applied to divestments that may have occurred prior to the implementation date is a question/concern.

It’s hard to believe it has been three years, and that some young lawyers will have entered the practice of Medicaid planning oblivious to the annual redetermination process.  But here we are, and here we go.