MassHealth Update 2017
DISCLAIMER
Before purchasing, review the rules of your licensing or certifying entity. It is your responsibility to confirm this course meets your CE requirements. See the credit tab on the course page for details.
What’s Included: Full webinar recording, written course materials, expert instruction, a mandatory quiz, and a certificate upon completion.
Deliverability Timeline: All courses are generally available within 1-2 weeks after the live presentation.
CE Credits: AIA and/or LA/CES accreditation is available by request for courses recorded prior to March 11, 2026. All courses after that date include those accreditations by default, if applicable. With these accreditations, our courses qualify for credit in nearly all states for engineers, surveyors, architects, and landscape architects.
Learn more about the on-demand format in our FAQ or contact us at (715) 835-5900 or customerservice@halfmoonseminars.org
Agenda
Registration: 8:00 – 8:30 am
Morning Session: 8:30 am – 12:25 pm
Lunch (On your own): 12:25 – 1:25 pm
Afternoon Session: 1:25 – 5:00 pm
Long-Term Care Basics
M. Albanese, P. Greenfield
Options available in the continuum of care: independent living, assisted living, memory care, home care, skilled nursing facility care
Who pays for what: Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance
Basic rules of nursing home MassHealth eligibility
MassHealth Application Issues
R. Kutia
Obtaining client information
List of verifications
File organization
Issue spotting – scanning for unknown transfers or deposits, locating undisclosed assets
Preparing application for filing – marking up verifications for MassHealth
Responding to information requests
Advanced Issues in Qualifying for MassHealth
M. Albanese, P. Greenfield
The “Spend Down:” annuities, pooled trusts, caregiver contracts and other creative strategies
Protecting the primary residence: life estate deeds, joint deeds, caretaker child deeds and irrevocable trusts
Allowable exceptions for disabled individuals
When both spouses need care – how to spot and structure an increased resource allowance appeal
Disqualifying transfers and how to deal with the lasting impacts
MassHealth for Adults Needing Long Term Care Services in a Community-Based Setting – Medical & Financial Eligibility
J. Hope
MassHealth standard for adults: under 65 and 65-or-older
MassHealth CommonHealth for adults: under 65 and 65-or-older
Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program
Adult Foster Care program (aka “Adult Family Care”)
Social Security Supplemental Security Income-Group (SSI-G) and Group Adult Foster Care (GAFC) for assisted living
Traumatic brain injury and acquired brain injury waivers
Money follows the person waivers
Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)
Frail Elder Waiver (FEW) program
Role of local Aging Services Access Point (ASAP)
Community Choices program
Senior Care Options (SCO) program
Irrevocable Trust Provisions – What Works and What Does Not
P.K. Martin
Overview of regulations regarding trusts
Problematic provisions in trusts
Review of recent decisions including Heyn and Daley/Nadeau
New issues presented in Daley/Nadeau decision
When to address issues in existing trusts
Best practices going forward
Miscellaneous Issues in Estate Planning & Administration
J. Younger
Capital gains issues
Life estates – Skye v. Hession (Rumors & SJC Redux?)
Grantor trusts and charities – Daley and Nadeau
Too wealthy for irrevocable trust planning?
Gifting and MassHealth
Estate recovery – conditional waiver of recovery
Closely-held business interests
Massachusetts’ new (2017) notary public law?
Predicting the Unpredictable – Updates on State and Federal Proposals Which Could Impact MassHealth
W. Brisk
Credits
Certified Public Accountants
8.0 CPE Hours
Attorneys
Non-Mandatory Massachusetts CLE
7.0 Maine CLE Hours
7.0 New Hampshire CLE Hours
8.0 New York CLE Hours
7.0 Vermont CLE Hours
Certified Financial Planners
8.0 Continuing Ed. Hours
Continuing Education Credit Information
This seminar is open to the public and offers continuing education credit to attorneys, accountants and financial planners.
The Massachusetts Board of Public Accountancy accepts courses from providers that are members of NASBA’s National Registry of CPE Sponsors.
HalfMoon Education is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. This intermediate level course offers 8.0 CPE hours in the area of specialized knowledge. A basic understanding of Medicaid and Medicare is recommended, and no advanced preparation is necessary. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.learningmarket.org. Sponsor No. 103015.
The Maine Overseers of the Bar has approved this course for 7.0 CLE hours for attorneys.
HalfMoon Education is certified by the New York State CLE Board as an Accredited Provider of CLE programs. This traditional format course offers 8.0 CLE hours, consisting of 8.0 Areas of Professional Practice hours suitable to new and experienced attorneys.
This course offers a CLE opportunity to New Hampshire attorneys. Courses are no longer subject to preapproval in New Hampshire. HalfMoon Education is an approved CLE provider for Vermont attorneys and this course offers 7.0 CLE hours.
HalfMoon Education Inc. is a CFP Board-registered continuing education sponsor. The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. has granted 8.0 hours of continuing education credit for the completion of this seminar.
Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the seminar for most individuals who complete the entire event. Attendance certificates not available at the seminar will be mailed to participants within fifteen business days.
Speakers
Matthew P. Albanese
Matthew P. Albanese is the founding attorney of Albanese Law, LLC in Milton and concentrates his practice in estate planning, elder law, mental health law and disability law. He is president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, served as chair of their 24th Annual Elder Law Institute, has written articles on estate planning and frequently lectures on estate planning techniques and long term care planning. Previously Mr. Albanese served as the legal counsel to the Massachusetts House of Representatives Committee on Medicaid. He serves on the Massachusetts Elder Economic Security Commission.
William Brisk
Law Office of William J. BriskWilliam J. Brisk is a graduate of Brown University (AB), New York University School of Law (JD), and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (MA and PhD). He co-authored three decades ago Legal Planning for the Elderly in Massachusetts and Massachusetts Elderlaw from 2001 until 2014 and has published nearly two dozen articles on elder law topics in the NAELA Journal, NAELA News, Massachusetts Law Review, and Estate Planning. Mr. Brisk served as president of the Massachusetts Chapter of NAELA and served two terms on the Board of Directors. He has lectured on elder law at Boston College and Penn State Law School, and he has taught Elder Law and End of Life as adjunct law professor at Suffolk Law School. For 14 years he prepared material and was a major presenter at this annual event. In December of 2017, he joined Lannik Law as Of Counsel.
Pamela B. Greenfield
Pamela B. Greenfield is the founder of Greenfield Planning Group, LLC. Previously she headed the elder law department at Samuel, Sayward and Baler, LLC, in Dedham, where she continues to see clients and serve as of counsel to the firm. Ms. Greenfield focuses her practice in elder law, asset protection planning and complex MassHealth applications and appeals. She represents families and skilled nursing facilities in guardianship and conservatorship matters as well as probate and estate administration. She is also an estate planning attorney. Ms. Greenfield is president elect of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Massachusetts Chapter.
John Hope
John R. Hope founded Hope Elder Law in 2003 in Watertown, to assist elders and/or special needs/disabled clients with accessing public benefits while preserving assets, estate planning, special needs planning and advocacy, and guardianship and conservatorship of adults. He received his Juris Doctor degree with honors from Boston College Law School and his undergraduate B.S. degree in Business Management with a concentration in Applied Math from Rensselaer (RPI).He has been an active participant in the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys since 2003. Attorney Hope enjoys having a positive impact on people’s lives through his work as an elder law attorney.
Richard Kutia
Pabian & Russell, LLCRichard Kutia is an associate with Pabian & Russell, LLC, concentrating in the areas of elder law and estate planning. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from New England School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Connecticut. Prior to joining Pabian & Russell, Mr. Kutia worked as a law clerk with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office where he made numerous appearances before the court under Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03.
Joblin Younger
Law Office of Joblin C. Younger, P.C.Joblin C. Younger is founding partner of the Law Office of Joblin C. Younger, P.C. in Beverly, where he concentrates his practice in the areas of taxation, trusts, estate planning and administration, and probate litigation. He received his LL.M. degree in Taxation from the Boston University School of Law, his J.D. degree from Suffolk University Law School, and his B.A. degree from The City College of New York. Mr. Younger is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and New York, and serves as a Public Administrator of Suffolk County.