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Medical Services Policy Manual, Section H

H 308 Determination of Uncompensated Value and Penalty Period H-300 Transfer of Resources

resource) shall be considered to be transferred by the individual when any action is taken, either by the individual or by any other person, that reduces or eliminates the individual’s ownership or control of such resource. For example, Mrs. White adds her daughter’s name to a bank account. Adding a name to a resource in itself does not necessarily constitute a transfer because, in this case, Mrs. White still has full access to her money. However, the daughter later withdraws the money. The withdrawal shall be viewed as if Mrs. White had directly transferred the money to her daughter, and a penalty period will be imposed on Mrs. White if she applies for facility or Waiver assistance. (Re. MS H-308) If in the case of joint tenancy property ownership where an individual cannot access his interest in property due to the refusal of the other owners to give consent to sell the property, it should be determined when the joint tenancy ownership was established. EXAMPLE: During the look back period an individual had full ownership of 10 acres of land but, prior to entering a facility, deeded the property to himself and two brothers as joint owners who will not consider sale of the property. In this situation, a transfer of resources should be considered, because an action occurred which eliminated or reduced the owner’s access to a resource. If, on the other hand, the joint tenancy ownership has existed for a period of time longer than the look back period, a transfer of resources will not be considered and the applicant’s interest in the property will not be considered a resource if the other owners will not consider sale of the property. When a transfer was made in the look back period by a joint owner, which reduces or eliminates an individual’s ownership or control of a resource, the individual will be given the right to rebut the presumption of ownership of joint accounts, if applicable, and to rebut the presumption that resources were transferred to establish eligibility (Re. MS H-312). H-308 Determination of Uncompensated Value and Penalty Period MS Manual 01/01/19 This section of policy provides guidelines on: 1. Determining the value of an uncompensated transfer; 2. Determining the appropriate penalty period; 3. Determining the penalty period for multiple transfers; 4. Determining the penalty period for an uncompensated transfer to an annuity; and