Sec. 17b-261a. Transfer or assignment of assets resulting in the imposition of a penalty period. Regulations.
Sec. 17b-261a. Transfer or assignment of assets resulting in the imposition of
a penalty period. Regulations. (a) Any transfer or assignment of assets resulting in
the imposition of a penalty period shall be presumed to be made with the intent, on the
part of the transferor or the transferee, to enable the transferor to obtain or maintain
eligibility for medical assistance. This presumption may be rebutted only by clear and
convincing evidence that the transferor's eligibility or potential eligibility for medical
assistance was not a basis for the transfer or assignment.
(b) Any transfer or assignment of assets resulting in the establishment or imposition
of a penalty period shall create a debt, as defined in section 36a-645, that shall be due
and owing by the transferor or transferee to the Department of Social Services in an
amount equal to the amount of the medical assistance provided to or on behalf of the
transferor on or after the date of the transfer of assets, but said amount shall not exceed
the fair market value of the assets at the time of transfer. The Commissioner of Social
Services, the Commissioner of Administrative Services and the Attorney General shall
have the power or authority to seek administrative, legal or equitable relief as provided
by other statutes or by common law.
(c) The Commissioner of Social Services may waive the imposition of a penalty
period when the transferor (1) in accordance with the provisions of section 3025.25 of
the department's Uniform Policy Manual, suffers from dementia at the time of application for medical assistance and cannot explain transfers that would otherwise result in
the imposition of a penalty period; or (2) suffered from dementia at the time of the
transfer; or (3) was exploited into making such a transfer due to dementia. Waiver of
the imposition of a penalty period does not prohibit the establishment of a debt in accordance with subsection (b) of this section.
(d) The Commissioner of Social Services, pursuant to section 17b-10, shall implement the policies and procedures necessary to carry out the provisions of this section
while in the process of adopting such policies and procedures in regulation form, provided notice of intent to adopt regulations is published in the Connecticut Law Journal
not later than twenty days after implementation. Such policies and procedures shall be
valid until the time final regulations are effective.
(June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2, S. 4, 69; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9, S. 129, 131; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3, S. 62; P.A. 04-16, S. 7; P.A. 05-209, S. 4; 05-280, S. 40.)
History: June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2 effective July 1, 2001; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9 revised effective date of June Sp.
Sess. P.A. 01-2 but without affecting this section; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3 designated existing provisions as Subsec.
(a), added Subsec. (b) providing that transfer of assets resulting in imposition of a penalty period is presumed to be made
with intent of allowing transferor to remain eligible for medical assistance, added Subsec. (c) re transfers resulting in
imposition of a penalty period creating a debt due and owing to the department, added Subsec. (d) permitting commissioner
to grant financial relief to nursing facility that demonstrates severe financial hardship due to imposition of transfer of assets
penalties, added Subsec. (e) permitting commissioner to waive transfer of assets penalty period when transferor suffers
from dementia or was exploited into making transfer, added Subsec. (f) providing that department, when determining
medical assistance eligibility, shall review transfers of assets involving real property occurring in the 60 months preceding
the date the individual applied for medical assistance and that federal law governs transfers of assets not involving real
property, added Subsec. (g) permitting commissioner to establish threshold limits re annual asset transfers not subject to
penalty and added Subsec. (h) requiring commissioner to implement policies and procedures necessary to carry out purposes
of section while in the process of adopting regulations, effective August 20, 2003; P.A. 04-16 made technical changes in
Subsec. (h); P.A. 05-209 deleted former Subsec. (a) re authority of commissioner to seek waiver of federal law for establishing penalty period for transfers of assets for less than fair market value, deleted former Subsec. (d) re commissioner's
authority to grant financial relief to nursing homes experiencing severe financial hardship due to imposition of revised
transfer of asset penalty period, deleted former Subsec. (e) re commissioner's authority to waive penalty period when
transferor suffers from dementia, deleted former Subsec. (f) re 60-month penalty period for transfers of assets involving
real property, deleted former Subsec. (g) re commissioner's authority to set threshold limits for transfers not subject to
imposition of penalty period, and redesignated existing Subsecs. (b), (c) and (h) as new Subsecs. (a), (b) and (c), respectively,
effective July 6, 2005; P.A. 05-280 added new Subsec. (c) re commissioner's authority to waive penalty period when
transferor suffers from dementia and redesignated existing Subsec. (c) as new Subsec. (d), effective July 13, 2005.