[Download] "Smith v. State of Louisiana Dep't of Health and Hospitals" by Court of Appeal Second Circuit State of Louisiana # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Smith v. State of Louisiana Dep't of Health and Hospitals
- Author : Court of Appeal Second Circuit State of Louisiana
- Release Date : January 02, 2005
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 76 KB
Description
The State of Louisiana, through the Department of Health and Hospitals (""DHH""), denied an application for Medicaid and Long Term Care Benefits on grounds that the applicant was the settlor, trustee, and beneficiary of a revocable trust whose value exceeded the maximum resource limit for individuals. Under administrative appeal, an Administrative Law Judge (""ALJ"") affirmed the denial of benefits, concluding that the applicant had access to nine Certificates of Deposit (""CDs"")in a revocable trust, each valued more than $2,000. The matter was appealed to the Fourth Judicial District Court, Morehouse Parish. Acting in its capacity as an appellate court for administrative decisions, the district court concluded that the trust was irrevocable, reversed the ALJ, and ordered DHH to reprocess and provide Medicaid/Long Term Care Benefits to the applicant. DHH filed this appeal. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the district court. Facts and Procedure Mildred Lea Smith, age 90, applied to the DHH for Medicaid and Long Term Care (""LTC"") Benefits. The application included a verification of Ms. Smith's resources, which disclosed that Ms. Smith owned a checking account in the State Bank of Eldred (Illinois) containing $1,808, and that she is the settlor, beneficiary, and trustee of the Charles Luther and Mildred Lea Smith Trust, holding the nine Certificates of Deposits (""CDs"") valued at $311,183.50, established by her and her husband, Charles, in 1998. Charles died in 2002. The application was denied on grounds that Ms. Smith had financial resources exceeding the $2,000 limit for individuals to be eligible for Medicaid/LTC benefits. Specifically, the agency determined that Ms. Smith, as the surviving settlor of a revocable trust, could invade the trust corpus and use the CDs for her care.