Special Medicaid Rules for Survivors of the Holocaust part 1

Through legislation enacted by Congress in 1994, American citizens who were both victims of Nazi persecution and reparation recipients can receive Medicaid benefits while remaining in possession and control of their funds. This category includes even those whose assets would otherwise be considered too great to receive such governmental assistance without spending down or divesting themselves of their assets. Most importantly, during the lifetime of the recipient, these protected assets may be used at his or her discretion for supplemental care or whatever purposes he or she desires.

As a result, many Reparation recipients are, unknowingly, financially eligible for Medicaid despite the fact that their entire savings remain intact. Therefore, all necessary steps should be taken to ensure that assets are not needlessly wasted on nursing care which would otherwise be provided to them at no expense. There is a series of steps which must be taken to produce the type of proof and history required by Medicaid to create such an exemption. Researching a recipient’s reparation history, making the proper calculation of said accumulated reparation and the segregation of these funds into the proper form of account is essential to insuring that funds are not wasted or lost. This is neither a brief nor minor undertaking. The research, correspondence, review and interpretation of up to 50 years worth of materials, and the calculation of receipts in a foreign currency, the value of which has fluctuated greatly during this time period, is an extremely complex task. Those who attempt to garner such evidence without expert assistance will likely face insurmountable difficulties.

Please call (212) 307-1499 to speak to our Holocaust restitution attorneys.