PA Annuity - PA Care Management, Inc.

Welcome to PCM, Inc.

Medicaid Annuities for Pennsylvania Medicaid Applicants

PCM specializes in helping Pennsylvania legal, financial, and care management professionals meet their senior clients’ needs for Medicaid qualifying annuities. At PCM, we work with properly licensed Pennsylvania attorneys to provide annuities that conform to Medicaid laws and regulations. PCM also assists AAA care managers, financial planners, and other professionals who advise consumers about Medicaid qualifying annuities.

Medicaid rules normally require applicants to have spent their assets (with some exceptions such as burial funds) before they qualify for Medicaid and its long-term care benefit. In fact, the new Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) tightens existing rules to discourage individuals from transferring their assets to family members or others to hasten their Medicaid eligibility.

A Guide to Medicaid Annuities for Pennsylvania Lawyers

An immediate annuity is like an hour-glass -- your client fills the glass with funds which are then returned to the client with interest over time. Thus, annuities can be used to convert excess resources into a stream of income. However, Medicaid eligibility will be denied if the state treats the purchase of an annuity as a transfer of assets.

Under pre-DRA law, the purchase of an actuarially sound commercial annuity was deemed made for fair value, and no transfer penalty could be applied. In DRA Section 6012, Congress revisited the treatment of annuities.

The DRA Adds the Following Requirements for Annuities:

-The requirement to disclose, in an application for long-term care services, information regarding any interest an applicant or community spouse may have in an annuity.

-The requirement to name the State as a remainder beneficiary in annuities in which the applicant or spouse is the annuitant; and

-Provisions for the treatment of the purchase of certain annuities as a transfer for less than fair market value. The DRA's requirements are extremely complicated. Click here to view the annuity provisions of the DRA.

In general, the purchase of an annuity is to be treated as a penalized disposal of an asset for less than fair market value. However, Section 6012 of the DRA creates several exceptions. Using these exceptions, individuals and couples can continue to reduce excess resources and qualify for Medicaid through the purchase of an annuity.

PCM is the Trusted Source for Pennsylvania Medicaid Annuities:

PCM has the knowledge and experience to guide you and your clients in the right direction. Matthew Parker, the President of PCM, is a Certified Elder Law Attorney*, and specializes in helping clients obtain Medicaid benefits for long-term care. Patti Jo Turner has years of experience working in insurance and also at the Elder Law Firm of Marshall, Parker & Associates. Matt and Patti Jo, both licensed insurance professionals, can help your client purchase an annuity to qualify for Medicaid benefits.

If you are a Pennsylvania Elder Law or Estate Planning attorney, a financial professional whose clients may be able to benefit from the purchase of a Medicaid annuity or a care manager or caseworker looking for guidance on these complex issues, PCM is your trusted source.

March 3, 2007- Implementing the Deficit Reduction Act - Read DPW's Operating Memos

November 21, 2006- Federal Court permanently enjoins the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare from denying Medicaid to Institutional Spouse due to Community Spouse purchase of annuity. Attorneys Matthew Parker and Kevin Grebas of Marshall, Parker & Associates obtain permanent injunction on behalf of family.

To read the Memorandum and Order for permanent injunction issued November 21, 2006, click here.

To read an article about the case written by Attorney Jeffrey A. Marshall, click here.

For further information, please contact:

Matthew J. Parker, Esq., CELA*    mparker@paannuity.com

Patti Jo Turner, BSEd          pturner@paannuity.com

Pennsylvania Care Management

49 East Fourth Street
Williamsport, PA 17701
570-326-1890

webmail@paannuity.com

* Certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation.