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THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2023 Page 13 NAVIGATORS UNVEIL SCHEDULE FOR 2023 ALL-STAR SUMMER AT FRASER FIELD THE DERMODY SJC CASE O n January 27, 2023 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court handed down a decision in favor of MassHealth with respect to Medicaid annuities required beneficiary designations. This was a longawaited decision by members of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law attorneys. Several members of the Massachusetts Chapter presented an amicus curiae brief in favor of the plaintiff in the lawsuit, Laurie A. Dermody. The case was originally heard in the Superior Court in 2017 and the SJC granted an application for direct appellate review. Robert G. Hamel purchased a Medicaid annuity issued by Nationwide Life in order to seek approval for his wife Joan Hamel’s MassHealth application. He named the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the remainder benefi ciary to the “extent of benefi ts paid”, and his daughter Laurie A. Dermody as the contingent benefi ciary. Upon Robert’s death, prior to having received all of the monthly payments under the annuity policy, Laurie brought suit against MassHealth and Nationwide contending that she, rather than the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, was entitled to the remainder of the annuity payments. A Medicaid annuity is a lastminute strategy to take excess assets off of the table by purchasing it with those excess assets thereby creating a non-countable income stream for the spouse who is at home, thereby qualifying the spouse in the nursing home for MassHealth benefi ts. Congress intended on providing the at home spouse with enough income to pay for monthly living expenses and not to be impoverished. The SJC reasoned that Congress’ intent when it passed the Defi cit Reduction Act (DRA) was to name the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the remainder benefi ciary on any Medicaid annuity, regardless of whether or not the annuity was purchased by the institutionalized spouse or the community spouse. If the community spouse outlives the term of the annuity (e.g. fi ve years of monthly payments), then he or she will have enjoyed the benefi t of those monthly payments over that fi ve year period. Upon the community spouse’s death in that situation, there are no remaining payments left and no balance remaining that could be paid to the State. However, if the community spouse dies in year two or three, for example, the remaining balance of the annuity must be paid to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to repay it for any MassHealth benefi ts paid for the institutional spouse while in the nursing home. Any remaining balance after that can then be paid to the children. Elder law attorneys have been unsure as to whether or not the annuity benefi ciary designation could state “Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to the extent of benefi ts paid on behalf of the community spouse”. The hope was that so long as the community spouse never went into a nursing home and qualifi ed for MassHealth benefits, upon his or her death, the insurance company would make payment of the remaining balance to the children. This SJC case makes it clear that will not be the case. The community spouse will simply have to live for the entire term of the annuity policy in order to protect all of that money. Otherwise, the state must be paid off in full fi rst before the children can receive anything. The SJC stated that the DRA requires the State to be named the primary remainder benefi ciary on the death of the community spouse. The SJC did hold that the Medicaid annuity met all other requirements of the statute and was an eff ective strategy in order to achieve MassHealth approval for Joan Hamel. As a further note, the look-back period was extended from 3 years to 5 years under the Defi cit Reduction Act of 2005. Joseph D. Cataldo is an Estate Planning/Elder Law Attorney, Certifi ed Public Accountant, Certifi ed Financial Planner, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a Master’s Degree in Taxation. LYNN, Mass. -- The North Shore Navigators have revealed their schedule for the 2023 New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) season, featuring 22 home games and the 2023 NECBL All-Star Game, presented by Metro Credit Union, at historic Fraser Field. Monday’s announcement was made by NECBL Commissioner Sean McGrath and Navs General Manager Maggie Barden. North Shore’s home opener at Fraser Field is scheduled for Friday, June 9 against the Keene SwampBats. The 44-game summer slate will kick off two nights earlier with a Wednesday, June 7 trip to play the defending NECBL champion Martha’s Vineyard Sharks in Oak Bluff s. The 16th season of summer collegiate baseball for the Navigators will include a total of 22 home dates, including four regular-season home games on Friday nights, three on Saturdays and fi ve on Sundays. The Navs will also host the NECBL All-Star Game for the fi rst time since 2011 on the fi nal scheduled Sunday of the summer, July 23, at 4:35 p.m. Regular-season home games in 2023 are scheduled to begin at 6:35 p.m. on Monday through Thursday nights, 7:05 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 5:05 p.m. on Sundays. The lone exceptions are 11:35 a.m. starts to accomARTISTIC | FROM Page 1 the city for storage, underwent a structural and hazardous material assessment and was found to be in fair condition. But to create the commission’s vision of a performance or teaching space on the lower level, where fi re engines were once kept, and the studio space on the upper level, will require some renovation for which the city will be responsible. MAPC staff , who have worked with other cities and towns on similar projects, said the city will need to hire an operator, possibly a nonprofit organization, to manage the modate fi eld trip days for local schools and camps. The Navs are excited to feature promotions and theme nights in conjunction with local businesses throughout the 2023 season, with further details to come in the spring. The popular Field of Dreams Baseball Clinic will return in 2023, with a pair of Monday through Wednesday sessions running from June 26-28 and July 10-12. Click here to register your child for the clinic, which will be run by Navs players and coaches. The Navs will take to Fraser Field for 6:35 p.m. games on three of the six total clinic days. Season passes, which admit two people to each Navs home game, are now on sale for $115 and can be purchased by clicking here. Please contact Barden (maggie@nsnavs.com) for more information and questions regarding ticket sales, booking group outings, and the Field of Dreams Baseball Clinic. On the fi eld, the Navs remain in the Coastal Division alongside the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks, Mystic (Conn.) Schooners, Newport (R.I.) Gulls and Ocean State Waves (South Kingstown, R.I.) for the second consecutive year. The North Division features the Keene (N.H.) Swamp Bats, Sanford Mainers, Upper Valley Nighthawks center. MAPC staff suggested the building would be leased to an operator with a set of criteria. However, with the city chasing every spare dime to build a new high school, it’s not clear when that may happen. “This is definitely going to happen,” said Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna. “It might take a year, it may take fi ve years, but it will happen.” The next step is to test the assumptions of the commission about uses for the building. The commission is also looking for ways to gather community input to better understand what residents want and expect from a (White River Junction, Vt.) and Vermont Mountaineers (Montpelier). The North Adams (Mass.) Steeple Cats, Bristol (Conn.) Blues, Danbury (Conn.) Westerners and Valley Blue Sox (Holyoke, Mass.) make up the West Division. North Shore will play seven games against each divisional opponent, and a home-andhome series against each of the four teams in both the North and West Divisions. In the fi nal week of the regular season, each of the league’s 13 teams will play solely against division rivals in hopes of qualifying for the 2023 NECBL Postseason, which will feature a total of six teams in the three division winners and three wildcards who have the next three highest winning percentages regardless of division. A charter member of the New England League’s inaugural season dating back to 1994, the Navs rejoined the NECBL in 2021 after a nine-year hiatus and proceeded to capture the Northern Division regular-season championship. The franchise has qualifi ed for the NECBL playoff s in fi ve of its fi rst six NECBL seasons and won its fourth Fay Vincent Sr. Cup in 2010. Stay up to date on the latest Navs news by visiting nsnavs.com and following the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. public arts center. Surveys, focus groups, a public meeting and individual interviews are all being planned. A concept plan is expected to be complete by June. While the arts center is primarily meant to serve Revere artists and residents, the center is also an opportunity to make Revere an arts destination that showcases the city. Building and supporting the arts community is often seen as a path for economic development. Hawkins stressed that Revere has a wide range of working artists and a richly diverse community to tap into. “Across the board, we’ve got people who are gifted artists,” he said. “We’re a city of creators.”

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