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the portion covered by a lien is ‘paid’. Do not apply this portion of the bill to a deductible. g. If the medical charge was incurred during the current certification period, it is allowable to apply to the deductible for that certification period. 2. Individual obtains Cash Surrender Value or a loan against CSV When an a/b cashes in an insurance policy that generates a CSV, this is a conversion of one type of resource to another. When the policy is surrendered for cash, or a loan is taken out against the CSV, the money received is counted as a resource until it is spent. 3. Irrevocable Change of Beneficiary Irrevocable change of beneficiary means filing a rider to the policy that irrevocably changes the beneficiary to a funeral home or to the person’s estate for purposes of funeral expenses. This action must prevent the person from obtaining the cash surrender value. Verify this with the insurance company. Each insurance company will have its own forms and language. The key points are: • Beneficiary is funeral home or estate for burial purposes • Verification from insurance company that they have processed the change • Designation of beneficiary is irrevocable • Verification from insurance company that the insured cannot get the cash value 4. Change of Ownership/Absolute Assignment A change in ownership of the policy to a third party is frequently referred to as absolute assignment. Verify the change in ownership with the insurance company. This could result in a sanction for a/b in long term care if equal compensation was not received for the policy’s value. Compensation may be verified by a copy of the contract. XIII. BURIAL EXCLUSION Burial exclusion is only used when the a/b has excess countable resources. It is a method to exclude up to $1500 value of otherwise countable liquid assets for burial expenses for each financially responsible person. This section contains rules and procedures for burial exclusion. A. Burial Exclusion Rules 1. Always ask the a/b if he or a financially responsible person has resources which are intended to be used for burial purposes. 97