Miller Trusts and Qualified Income Trusts
A Miller Trust and a Qualified Income Trust (or QIT) are technically one and the same. Now that we know that, let’s talk a bit about them.
A Qualifying Income Trust (QIT) or Miller Trust makes it so that people with a gross income of over $1,656 per month can place all or part of that money into a trust so that they might be income eligible to receive coverage from Medicaid.
Those who have an amount of gross income of $1,656 a month who currently get or want to get Nursing Facility, Homecare, Home and Community Based, or Acquired Brain Injury Waiver Services will need to set up a Qualifying Income Trust in order to continue to get coverage from Medicaid.
So what are the requirements for the Qualifying Income Trust? Let’s look at them below:
- The QIT has to receive approval from the Department for Medicaid Services.
- The QIT must be irrevocable
- Income has to be put into the trust to bring the individual below the Special Income Standard of $1,656 per month.
- No resources are allowed to be placed into the trust.
- A separate bank account is required to be set up for the trust.
If you would like to set up a QIT, you should contact an attorney or financial institution to assist you in doing so. However, you should be aware that the creation of Qualifying Income Trust will not increase the cost of care and should not change what your provider will charge someone for services; neither will it decrease the amount that supports your spouse. He or she will continue to get the same support contribution. Please note that the allotment for spouses is determined by the caseworker and is also based on the spouse’s income.
To continue, the trust will not change your Personal Needs Allowance (PNA). That will still be $40 per month. And don’t worry if you may be thinking you can’t keep a savings or checking account. You can. There isn’t any limit to the number of other checking or savings accounts you can have as long as the combined total value of the non-QIT accounts is less than $2,000.
It is important that you are aware that there should be only one (1) QIT account. That one account can only contain income and can’t have any other resources in it. If resources are put into the account, it voids the eligibility. However, there aren’t any requirements for the type of account you need in order to make a QIT, and there is no proper template for one. If you have questions, you should consult with an attorney or financial institution.
If you would like more information regarding the Qualifying Income Trust and the criteria to create one, you can look in the Social Security Act Section 1917, the State Medicaid Manual Section 3259, and 907 KAR 1:640 and 1:650 when filed.
