Cohen v. Commissioner of Div. of Medical Assistance

Medicaid. Trust, Self-settled trust, Trustee's discretion, Beneficiary. Statute, Construction. FRIED, J. These four cases raise a common issue in the administration of the Medicaid program that has recurred in virtually identical form throughout the United States. In the four cases before us, the Division of Medical Assistance (division) denied the plaintiffs' eligibility for Medicaid benefits because it deemed that the plaintiffs had available to them sufficient resources of their own. In three of the cases a Superior Court Judge affirmed the division's determinations, and in the fourth a Superior Court Judge reported the case to the Appeals court. 4 We begin by discussing the common issue, and then apply our Conclusion to the several cases in turn. 5