Your Governor (I sure as heck did not vote for him) is continuing his attack on the elderly and disabled. On Friday, June 26^th, his Eminency vetoed ALL of the changes that our Legislators fought for in this year’s budget that protect the elderly. One leading legislator recently said that if you need nursing home care the Governor not only wants all of your assets, but will attend your funeral for the purpose of checking the pockets of the corpse to see if there is anything left!

Under our Constitution, the House of Representatives is charged with taking up the issue of overrides of vetoes. Once the House has voted to override a veto it then goes onto the Senate. It’s my understanding that the Legislature is hoping to have all of the overrides finished by July 26^th, the start of the Democratic National Convention.

Representative Speliotis (Danvers & Topsfield) has explained to me that many of the adverse changes to the elderly are a result of the economy and the rapid increase in the cost of health care. Over the past three years health care costs have increased. That combined with the economy downturn resulted in many changes in the way that MassHealth (Medicaid) deals with families that need to put someone in a nursing home. Representative Speliotis is hopeful for the opportunity to vote on an override of Romney’s veto but says that "a vote is not guaranteed". In order to vote on the override the Speaker of the House must put it on the agenda.

Let’s start with the single most important issue affecting the elderly; it’s called Expanded Estate Recovery. Now, I‘ve written about this frequently and extensively in the past but it is so important that I am going to quickly summarize it again.

Under the new rules the surviving joint owner must report to the Division of Medical Assistance (DMA) an accounting of "property held in joint tenancy, tenancy by the entireties, life estates, living trusts, rights of survivorship, beneficiary designation or other arrangements". Once DMA is notified of these assets they will issue a written notice of claim which in certain instances could be deferred, but not eliminated, IF the family responds within 60 days of receiving the claim.

This puts an onerous burden on family members who may be elderly, cognitively impaired or dealing with painful transitions due to the death of the member. Spouses and family members may be personally liable to DMA if he or she sells or transfers the asset.

The notices that DMA will record at the registry of deeds will have the effect of making it difficult or impossible for a spouse to sell her home or re-mortgage it without paying DMA the amount of the claim. If the spouse wants to move to an assisted living facility she may lose the equity in her home and if the home needs major repairs or modifications she will be unable to secure a loan to do so because of DMA’s claim. Life insurance will also be affected because prior to paying any claims they will have to notify DMA of the death and await a determination as to whether the deceased was a MassHealth member against whom DMA will seek recovery. This will result in a delay, reduction or elimination of payments for funds that are normally used to pay funeral bills.

This veto of the repeal of Expanded Estate Recovery is only one of ten vetoes of items that affect the elderly. It is up to you to call your Representatives and to remind them that this is an election year and that you want them to do the right thing and fight for your rights.

This article gives general information and not specific advice on individual matters. Persons wanting individualized advice on matters discussed should contact an advisor experienced in those matters. To the extent this article provides information on legal matters, it is based on law in effect in Massachusetts on the date of posting (laws in effect in other states are often quite different).

Ronald H. Surabian is a CPA and attorney who works at the Elder Law Center in Saugus, Massachusetts. He also holds a masters in accounting and a masters in tax law. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. If you have any questions please call me at the Elder Law Center, One Essex Street, Saugus, MA 01906 (781)233-4444. To view this or any prior article, please visit our web site at www.elderlawcenter.org.