In December 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the “Pooled Trust Notification Bill” into law. This bill requires that Medicaid applicants and recipients, who have too much income to initially qualify for Medicaid, be notified of this Pooled Income Trust planning option. A Pooled Income Trust is a trust set up by a charitable organization that literally “pools” income of a group of individuals together. If you are needing to qualify for Medicaid and have income over the qualifying limits, you can add your excess income to the Pooled Income Trust, and Medicaid will not count that income against you for qualification purposes. As a contributor to the Pooled Income Trust, you can receive distributions from the trust to pay for certain items, as well.
Although this is a new law, the Estate Planning Law Center has always informed our clients of the Pooled Income Trust options in Medicaid planning.
