Bill Text: CT SB00392 | 2016 | General Assembly | Chaptered
Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Adoption Of The Special Needs Trust Fairness Act In Connecticut Upon Passage In Congress.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Passed) 2016-06-06 - Signed by the Governor [SB00392 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2016-SB00392-Chaptered.html
Substitute Senate Bill No. 392
AN ACT CONCERNING THE ADOPTION OF THE SPECIAL NEEDS TRUST FAIRNESS ACT IN CONNECTICUT UPON PASSAGE IN CONGRESS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 17b-261 of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(c) For the purposes of determining eligibility for the Medicaid program, an available asset is one that is actually available to the applicant or one that the applicant has the legal right, authority or power to obtain or to have applied for the applicant's general or medical support. If the terms of a trust provide for the support of an applicant, the refusal of a trustee to make a distribution from the trust does not render the trust an unavailable asset. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, the availability of funds in a trust or similar instrument funded in whole or in part by the applicant or the applicant's spouse shall be determined pursuant to the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, 42 USC 1396p. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a special needs trust, as defined in 42 USC 1396p(d)(4)(A), as amended from time to time. For purposes of determining whether a beneficiary under a special needs trust, who has not received a disability determination from the Social Security Administration, is disabled, as defined in 42 USC 1382c(a)(3), the Commissioner of Social Services, or the commissioner's designee, shall independently make such determination. The commissioner shall not require such beneficiary to apply for Social Security disability benefits or obtain a disability determination from the Social Security Administration for purposes of determining whether the beneficiary is disabled.