Illinois Legislative Update
As the recent Illinois legislative session came to end, there were several bills of note, which will have an important and positive impact for Illinois seniors and their families. These new laws have been sent to the Governor and are awaiting his signature. One bill of particular note is Illinois HB 4343. If signed by the Governor, HB 4343 will take effect on January 1, 2023 and will give immediate relief and assistance to Illinois seniors who qualify as a "community spouse," under the long-term care Medicaid eligibility rules. In general, when one spouse is a long-term care Medicaid recipient residing in a nursing home, with a spouse who still resides at home (the "community spouse"), there are limitations as to the amount of resources and monthly income that the community spouse may retain. For nearly a decade, Illinois has failed to provide community spouses with any adjustments to account for rising annual costs faced by seniors for daily living expenses (food, medicine, gas, etc.). Additionally, Illinois has been out of sync with the federal maximum allowances for community spouses, which are followed by most other states and which typically provide these much-needed annual adjustments. The good news is that this legislation, once signed by the governor, will as of the effective date (January 1, 2023) realign Illinois with the federal maximum monthly income allowance to which a community spouse is entitled and will provide Illinois community spouses with a long overdue monthly income adjustment. Additionally, the amount of resources that Illinois community spouses will be permitted to retain, when their spouse is applying for long-term care Medicaid coverage, will also be adjusted to realign with the federal maximum allowance. This adjustment, however, will be phased in overtime and is scheduled to fully realign by 2034.
For more information about HB 4343 and/or other recent law changes and how these changes may impact you or your loved ones, please do not hesitate to contact our office.
Legal Services:
Should you or someone you know wish to meet with one of our attorneys for assistance with (or to discuss options for): estate, life care, and/or long-term care planning; special needs planning; and/or, other planning matters, please do not hesitate to contact our office to schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys. It would be our pleasure to meet with you to review your current planning and/or to discuss planning options for your consideration.
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If any of the above apply to you, or someone you know, then please visit the website of our parent law firm, Mickey, Wilson, Weiler, Renzi, Lenert, & Julien, P.C., to learn more about the additional legal services we offer.
Reminder: Out of an abundance of caution and to do our continued part in helping to keep our clients, staff, and their respective families as safe as possible, all non-signing appointments for our elder law clients and for our estate and life care planning clients with the following attorneys: Connie Renzi or Katie Lenert, remain "virtual" (via video or telephone conferencing).
