LRH&P attorney Laurie Hanson has won a major appeal in the Minnesota Supreme Court. The case involves an important question: whether individuals 65 and older may place funds in a pooled trust sub-account and retain their eligibility for Medicaid without suffering a penalty. In Pfoser v. Harpstead, Commissioner of the MDHS, the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the Dakota County District Court’s reversal of the imposition of a period of ineligibility due to the funding of a pooled trust sub-account by Mr. Pfoser when he was 65 years of age. The court found that the department had to do a fair market value/adequate compensation analysis before imposing a transfer penalty. Because Mr. Pfoser had offered evidence of fair market value which the Commissioner failed to rebut, no penalty could be imposed on Mr. Pfoser based on funds he placed in the LSS Pooled Trust.
The state of Minnesota has 6o days to file for review in the Minnesota Supreme Court.