NY State Senate Bill S4779

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A6743 - Signed by Governor

Introduced
In Committee
On Floor Calendar
- Passed Senate
- Passed Assembly
Delivered to Governor
Signed by Governor

Your Voice

Please enter your contact information

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

A valid email address is required.

Home address search or enter your address manually *

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Leave this field blank

Actions

view actions (12)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Aug 21, 2017	signed chap.187
Aug 09, 2017	delivered to governor
May 24, 2017	returned to assembly passed senate 3rd reading cal.899 substituted for s4779
May 24, 2017	substituted by a6743
May 15, 2017	advanced to third reading
May 10, 2017	2nd report cal.
May 09, 2017	1st report cal.899
Mar 13, 2017	reported and committed to finance
Feb 28, 2017	referred to health

Votes

Co-Sponsors

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A6743
Law Section:: Social Services Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §366, Soc Serv L

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Eliminates from income and resources considered for medical assistance eligibility, the corpus and income of a trust established by a disabled person for his or her own benefit and payable to the state upon his or her death to the extent of medical assistance benefits paid.

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 BILL NUMBER:  S4779

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the social services law, in relation
to the eligibility of disabled persons who are applicants for or
recipients of medical assistance

 PURPOSE :

Provides that individuals may establish Medicaid Supplemental Needs
Trusts for their own benefit, without a court order.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

This legislation amends New York Social Services Law 366(b)(2)(iii) in
order to harmonize State law with the new federal provisions that
enable non-elderly individuals with disabilities to establish their
own SNT without having to file a petition with a court.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Federal law historically provided that a special needs trust could
only be established by parents, grandparents, legal guardians, or a
court. Individuals wanting to set up special needs trusts for
themselves were required to file a petition with a court. As part of
the 21st Century Cures Act adopted in late 2016, the federal law
regarding Medicaid Supplemental Needs Trusts ("SNTs") was amended to

allow non-elderly individuals with disabilities to establish their own
SNT without having to file a petition with a court.

Despite the federal change, New York's current law continues to be
discriminatory. The Social Services Law presumes incorrectly that
disabled individuals are incapable of creating a trust for their own
benefit. The presumption in the current statute is that all people
with disabilities lack mental capacity to create a trust is erroneous.
This was corrected and eliminated from federal law during the final
months of 2016. Failing to enact a state law consistent with the
federal change prevents disabled individuals from enjoying the same
rights and privileges as able bodied New Yorkers and imposes
unnecessary legal fees and costs, court delays, and uncertainty on
people who can least afford it.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

None

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

Unknown

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply to all trusts
established on or after such effective date.

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf


                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  4779

                       2017-2018 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            February 28, 2017
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sens. HANNON, ORTT -- read twice and ordered printed, and
  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health

AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to the  eligibility
  of  disabled  persons  who are applicants for or recipients of medical
  assistance

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Clause (iii) of subparagraph 2 of paragraph (b) of subdivi-
sion  2  of  section 366 of the social services law, as added by chapter
170 of the laws of 1994, subclause (B) as amended by chapter 656 of  the
laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
  (iii)  Notwithstanding  the provisions of clauses (i) and (ii) of this
subparagraph, in the case of an applicant or recipient who is  disabled,
as  such  term  is  defined  in section 1614(a)(3) of the federal social
security act, the department must not consider as  available  income  or
resources the corpus or income of the following trusts which comply with
the  provisions  of  the  regulations  authorized by clause (iv) of this
subparagraph: (A) a trust containing the assets of such a disabled indi-
vidual which was established for the benefit of the disabled  individual
while  such individual was under sixty-five years of age by THE INDIVID-
UAL, a parent, grandparent, legal guardian, or court of competent juris-
diction, if upon the death of such individual the state will receive all
amounts remaining in the trust up to the  total  value  of  all  medical
assistance paid on behalf of such individual; (B) and a trust containing
the  assets  of  such a disabled individual established and managed by a
non-profit association which maintains separate accounts for the benefit
of disabled individuals, but, for purposes of investment and  management
of  trust funds, pools the accounts, provided that accounts in the trust
fund are established solely for the benefit of individuals who are disa-
bled as such term is defined in section 1614(a)(3) of the federal social
security act by such disabled individual, a parent,  grandparent,  legal

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD10341-01-7

S. 4779                             2

guardian,  or  court  of  competent jurisdiction, and to the extent that
amounts remaining in the individual's account are not  retained  by  the
trust  upon the death of the individual, the state will receive all such
remaining  amounts  up to the total value of all medical assistance paid
on behalf of such individual. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a
not-for-profit corporation may, in furtherance of and as an  adjunct  to
its corporate purposes, act as trustee of a trust for persons with disa-
bilities  established  pursuant to this subclause, provided that a trust
company, as defined in subdivision seven of section one hundred-c of the
banking law, acts as co-trustee.
  § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and  shall  apply  to  all
trusts established on or after such effective date.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

The New York State Senate

senate Bill S4779

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A6743 - Signed by Governor

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

May 24, 2017 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: May 24, 2017

May 9, 2017 - Finance committee Vote

Finance Committee Vote: May 9, 2017

Mar 14, 2017 - Health committee Vote

Health Committee Vote: Mar 14, 2017

Co-Sponsors

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Details

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S4779

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Kemp Hannon

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A6743 - Signed by Governor

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

May 24, 2017 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: May 24, 2017

May 9, 2017 - Finance committee Vote

Finance Committee Vote: May 9, 2017

Mar 14, 2017 - Health committee Vote

Health Committee Vote: Mar 14, 2017

Co-Sponsors

Robert G. Ortt

William J. Larkin, Jr.

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Details

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S4779 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments