SSA Not Required to Consider Medicaid Disability Decision in Its Own Determination

A U.S. district court in Indiana affirms the Social Security Administration's denial of disability benefits, finding that the agency was not required to inquire into whether Indiana's Medicaid agency had previously determined the applicant to be disabled. Potts v. Astrue (U.S. Distr. Ct., N.D. Ind., Ft. Wayne Div., Civil No. 1:08cv001, June 23, 2009).

U.S. Appeals Court Affirms That SNT Cannot Shelter SSDI Income From Defraying Medicaid LTC Costs

Upholding a district court ruling, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rules that SSDI payments placed in a Medicaid recipient's special needs trust (SNT) count as income for purposes of calculating his contribution to the cost of his nursing home care. Wong v. Doar (2d. Cir., No. 08-4992-cv, June 22, 2009).

Irrevocable Trust Forbidding Distribution of Corpus Is Still Countable by Medicaid

A Massachusetts appeals court finds that although an irrevocable, income-only trust expressly prohibits distributions of principal, other provisions in the trust could conceivably permit the trustees to invade trust assets, and thus the trust is countable for Medicaid purposes. Doherty v. Director of the Office of Medicaid (Mass. App. Ct., Essex, No. 08-P-939, June 18, 2009).