PRINTER'S NO. 4377
No. 2845 Session of 2006
INTRODUCED BY T. STEVENSON, ADOLPH, BOYD, CAPPELLI, DALEY,
DeWEESE, FABRIZIO, GOOD, KILLION, KOTIK, LaGROTTA, NICKOL,
RAPP, ROSS, J. TAYLOR, THOMAS AND WILT, JUNE 27, 2006
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
JUNE 27, 2006
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), entitled "An
2 act to consolidate, editorially revise, and codify the public
3 welfare laws of the Commonwealth," deleting provisions
4 relating to special needs trusts.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Section 1414 of the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31,
8 No.21), known as the Public Welfare Code, added July 7, 2005
9 (P.L.177, No.42), is amended to read:
10 [Section 1414. Special Needs Trusts.--(a) A special needs
11 trust must be approved by a court of competent jurisdiction if
12 required by rules of court.
13 (b) A special needs trust shall comply with all of the
14 following:
15 (1) The beneficiary shall be an individual under the age of
16 sixty-five who is disabled, as that term is defined in Title XVI
17 of the Social Security Act (49 Stat. 620, 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et
18 seq.).
1 (2) The beneficiary shall have special needs that will not
2 be met without the trust.
3 (3) The trust shall provide:
4 (i) That all distributions from the trust must be for the
5 sole benefit of the beneficiary.
6 (ii) That any expenditure from the trust must have a
7 reasonable relationship to the needs of the beneficiary.
8 (iii) That, upon the death of the beneficiary or upon the
9 earlier termination of the trust, the department and any other
10 state that provided medical assistance to the beneficiary must
11 be reimbursed from the funds remaining in the trust up to an
12 amount equal to the total medical assistance paid on behalf of
13 the beneficiary before any other claimant is paid: Provided,
14 however, That in the case of an account in a pooled trust, the
15 trust shall provide that no more than fifty percent of the
16 amount remaining in the beneficiary's pooled trust account may
17 be retained by the trust without any obligation to reimburse the
18 department.
19 (4) The department, upon review of the trust, must determine
20 that the trust conforms to the requirements of Title XIX of the
21 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq.), this section,
22 any other State law and any regulations or statements of policy
23 adopted by the department to implement this section.
24 (c) If at any time it appears that any of the requirements
25 of subsection (b) are not satisfied or the trustee refuses
26 without good cause to make payments from the trust for the
27 special needs of the beneficiary and, provided that the
28 department or any other public agency in this Commonwealth has a
29 claim against trust property, the department or other public
30 agency may petition the court for an order terminating the
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1 trust.
2 (d) Before the funding of a special needs trust, all liens
3 and claims in favor of the department for repayment of cash and
4 medical assistance shall first be satisfied.
5 (e) At the death of the beneficiary or upon earlier
6 termination of the trust, the trustee shall notify and request a
7 statement of claim from the department, addressed to the
8 secretary.
9 (f) As used in this section, the following words and phrases
10 shall have the following meanings:
11 "Pooled trust" means a trust subject to the act of December
12 9, 2002 (P.L.1379, No.168), known as the "Pooled Trust Act."
13 "Special needs" means those items, products or services not
14 covered by the medical assistance program, insurance or other
15 third-party liability source for which a beneficiary of a
16 special needs trust or his parents are personally liable and
17 that can be provided to the beneficiary to increase the
18 beneficiary's quality of life and to assist in and are related
19 to the treatment of the beneficiary's disability. The term may
20 include medical expenses, dental expenses, nursing and custodial
21 care, psychiatric/psychological services, recreational therapy,
22 occupational therapy, physical therapy, vocational therapy,
23 durable medical needs, prosthetic devices, special
24 rehabilitative services or equipment, disability-related
25 training, education, transportation and travel expenses, dietary
26 needs and supplements, related insurance and other goods and
27 services specified by the department.
28 "Special needs trust" means a trust or an account in a pooled
29 trust that is established in compliance with this section for a
30 beneficiary who is an individual who is disabled, as such term
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1 is defined in Title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. §
2 1382c(a)(3)), as amended, consists of assets of the individual
3 and is established for the purpose or with the effect of
4 establishing or maintaining the beneficiary's resource
5 eligibility for medical assistance.]
6 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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