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By John M. Bigler Once again the Medicaid program is the target of proposed budget cuts by the president and the Congress. The program is an easy target because it is a program which is beneficial largely to the poor and middle class. Many of those proponents for drastic cuts in the program point to "Medicaid millionaires" and argue that the supposed millionaires are artificially impoverishing themselves solely to be eligible for the Medicaid program rather than paying for medical costs on their own.
The president and Congress have conveniently chosen to ignore this gap in medical coverage that most civilized countries in the world have already addressed. What they have given us are strategies for middle class people to protect monies. It is not easy. It typically requires consulting with an attorney and facing difficult decisions such as giving up control of assets. But at least there are available methods of protecting some of the middle class person's assets rather than having them be wiped out by the cost of medical care.
Now the president would eliminate those legal planning strategies that allow the middle class some hope of protecting assets. This is a direct attack at one group and one group in particular and that is middle class people who suffer from long-term catastrophic illness. The rich are safe and the poor are protected but the middle class would be left helpless by this attack that is disguised as an attempt to deal with immoral millionaires. Meanwhile tax shelters and estate planning for the true millionaires continue unthreatened.
One of the arguments to cut the program is that it is really nothing more than an attempt by children to protect their inheritances. This is clearly false. The majority of clients and their children are simply concerned with protecting independence and dignity for the elderly ill person and possibly his or her spouse. Most planning strategies are not designed to "cheat" anybody out of anything. They are simply legitimate planning tools designed in most cases to save a part of a person's assets while recognizing that a significant amount of saved assets are going to be spent on medical care even when Medicaid planning is in place.
I personally am sick and tired of reading about millionaire seniors cheating the government. We are not talking about millionaires and nobody is cheating. These are middle class people who are simply taking advantage of the law. To use them as the scapegoat for an inflated out-of-control budget is reprehensible.
It is hoped here that somebody in Congress will have the courage to stand up and speak the truth. I would ask that all of you contact your representatives and senators to advise them to resist taking the easy way out and again encourage them to look for real solutions to the problems of long-term catastrophic medical costs. If they need an example they can follow the New York State Legislature which just last year resisted the attempts of the governor and some state legislators to drastically limit Medicaid planning in the State of New York. Instead courageous state legislators with foresight encouraged more progressive legislation which included tax benefits for purchasing long term insurance.
One can only hope that the Congress will show some back bone and stand up and protect the rights of the people who elected them.
Reprinted with permission of the Suffolk Times © 2005 [ Contact Us ] [ Guestbook ] [ Email ]  The Law Offices of John M. Bigler, Attorney At Law 1421 Wantagh Avenue, Wantagh, New York 11793-2206 1-888-ELDER-LAW · 516-409-6565 · Fax: 516-409-6522 E-Mail: info@biglerlaw.com · Web Site: www.biglerlaw.com |
What the politicians have chosen to conveniently ignore is that Medicaid is not a program for millionaires. Millionaires have excellent medical coverage and what is not covered is easily paid for. It is the middle class that suffer. Middle class people have Medicare and medical insurance to cover acute illnesses but are left completely vulnerable to the high cost of long term care for those diseases not considered acute. A middle class person has to get lucky and suffer a heart attack or be diagnosed with cancer. If one is unfortunate enough to develop Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease then their Medicare and medical insurance will not cover the disease.