Previous blog posts have reported on recent MassHealth cases involving irrevocable trusts and the ongoing attacks by MassHealth on trusts that were acceptable until recently. We linked to court and fair hearing decisions on a website created by Plymouth elder law practitioner Brian Barreira. Attorney Barreira has created the Massachusetts Medicaid Trust Law site at irrevocabletrust.info to share
fair hearing decisions, court decisions, legal briefs and other material submitted by elder law practitioners throughout the Commonwealth. Or, as he explains it:
The Massachusetts Medicaid Trust Law blog has been prepared as a resource for Massachusetts citizens and their attorneys who are experiencing denials on MassHealth applications that include irrevocable trusts.
The site is searchable by legal issues raised and terms of trusts in dispute, as well as by fair hearing officer. This means that practitioners can see how the individual who will be deciding their appeal has ruled on similar cases in the past, as well as what arguments have and have not worked. It also includes memoranda of law submitted by MassHealth and by other Massachusetts elder law attorneys so that no one has to reinvent the wheel.
This is a great resource, but its development and improvement depends on practitioners contributing their briefs and the decisions they receive, whether favorable or unfavorable. Send your submissions to Brian at brian@elderlaw.info.
All we can say is, “Thank you, Brian!”
