Page 18 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 SPORTS | FROM Page 6 MASSHEALTH ELIGIBILITY OPERATIONS MEMO 20-16 M assHealth is now using the Social Security Administration (SSA) Life Estate and Remainder Interest Tables to calculate the value of remainder interests and life estates. It no longer is going to use the IRS Book Aleph Life Estate and Remainder Interest Tables which provide for the utilization of the Internal Revenue Code Section 7520 interest rates in eff ect at the time of valuation. This may very well lead to litigation as virtually all of the elder lawyers in the Mass Chapter of The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys believe MassHealth should not be using the SSA tables. The problem is that the SSA tables use a higher percentage allocable to the life estate than to the remainder interest. In the future, if the home of a MassHealth applicant/ member is sold, more of the net sales proceeds will be allocated to the value of the life estate. As a result, the net sales proceeds are once again countable assets in the name of the applicant/member and will have to be spent down on nursing home care. Typically, a parent would be deeding the home to the children reserving a life estate in the deed itself. If all parties agree to sell the house, a calculation would have to be made in order to determine the amount of net sales proceeds allocable to the life tenant/parent and the remainderman/children. As an example, if the applicant/member/life tenant/parent and the remaindermen/ children sold the home and netted $232,000, assuming the parent was 87 years old at the time of sale, MassHealth will calculate the disqualifying transfer as follows: $232,000 x.32262 equals $74,848. If the parent is given back the $74,848, the money would have to be spent on nursing home care as he or she would be over the $2,000 limit. If the money is not given back to the parent, MassHealth will simply use that fi gure in order to determine the penalty period wherein MassHealth simply will not pay for nursing home coverage for the member/applicant. This is a very high percentage allocated to a life estate for someone 87 years of age. If the Book Aleph table was used, the percentage would drop to 2.146%. In our example, the value of the life estate would then only be $4,979! The disqualifying transfer would only be $4,979. The reason for this is the September, 2020 IRS Section 7520 interest rate is now down to.40 percent. I am hopeful that this issue will be litigated as it is just another example of MassHealth’s continuing attack on the elderly. 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. 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As of Wednesday, the latest report issued by the Executive Offi ce of Environmental Aff airs (EEA), three of the six GBL communities – Chelsea, Everett and Revere – were three of the eight statewide listed in the “Red” category. The other three – Malden, Medford and Somerville – were designated “Yellow.” At the School Committee meeting, Conefrey acknowledged that this was a year like no other, in which an entire season, spring sports, this year was canceled outright due to COVID-19. “This is not going to be like any athletic year we have ever seen before,” said Conefrey, who is beginning his fi fth year as Director of Athletics. “We are looking for new and innovative ways to deal with our studentathletes, and we really hope it changes for the better. “But we are not going to make any decision, not one move, unless it is fully and completely in the best interests, safety and physical and emotional health of our students, coaches, staff and their families,” said Conefrey. 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SALES * RENTALS * MANAGEMENT * BUYERS OF HOMES Board of Directors, the high school athletic calendar on August 14 was changed to provide for four sports seasons, as opposed to the traditional three: fall, winter and spring. The MIAA Board accepted recommendations of its Sports Medicine Committee and other committees before voting in favor of the four-season plan. Coincidentally, Conefrey just began his fi rst year as a member of the MIAA Board of Directors in July. He is also District G Chairman with the MIAA. Also on the MIAA Board is Malden High School House Principal Stephanie Sibley, who formerly served as a Board member when she was an administrator in the Boston Public Schools. As for fall sports, football has already been moved to the Fall 2 season. At this time, the GBL athletics directors and principals are considering whether to allow any fall sports to compete this fall, or move any or all to Fall 2 with football. Conefrey said he believes in the “all for one, one for all” mentality, in that if three of the GBL member schools cannot compete due to “Red” status by the EEA, then none of the GBL schools should compete this fall. “My biggest concern in any scenario is the day-to-day protocol, if and when we do return to playing games in any of the seasons – what type of prescreening of athletes and coaches would we have, what former of contact tracing, how we would respond to varying scenarios,” the Malden athletic director told the School Committee. Conefrey added that there would have to be a protocol in place where all information would have to be shared among league partners and any other opponents if teams played games. He said the MIAA Sports Medicine Subcommittee is tasked with coming up with further guidance for those matters. Another key consideration is that all six of the communities in the GBL group, including Everett, Malden and Revere, are opening their academic instruction in a fully remote learning mode. Conefrey said there are fundamental objections present among a number of stakeholders in the issue of fall sports and high school athletics in general who have diffi culty justifying how participation in interscholastic athletics can be allowed when students are not allowed to be educated in-person in their school buildings. Some leagues have already made decisions. The Northeastern Conference (NEC), of which the GBL schools were formerly members, have already voted to push fall sports to Fall 2. Other leagues, primarily parochial schools, like the Catholic Central League and Catholic Conference, have declared they will play all fall sports this year, excluding football. But many, if not most, of the parochial schools, which are tuition-based, are also having either fully in-person learning or a hybrid model weighted heavily to in-person attendance. Conefrey said he and the other GBL athletic directors are working to come up with a plan as soon as possible, with the start of school looming on September 16 for most of the member schools. “I’m a competitor,” said Conefrey – himself a 1997 Malden High graduate, former threesport standout, Golden Tornado Hall of Famer and former MHS coach – “and I want our kids out there as much as anyone. But not at the expense of a player, coach, staff or family member getting sick.” “We need and will have a decision based on safety; that is the bottom line,” Conefrey said.
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