Medicare Set-Asides, Pooled Trusts, and Public Benefits: A Practical Guide for Attorneys
Preserving Means-Tested Benefits Through Trust Planning and Settlement Strategies
A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A
This CLE webinar will explore preserving client eligibility for means-tested government benefits following settlements or judgments. The strategic use of pooled special needs trusts (PSNTs), Medicare set-asides (MSAs), and structured settlements allows administrators to safeguard assets like Medicaid and SSI while complying with complex benefit regulations.
Outline
- Introduction and case study
- Structured settlements, MSAs, and PSNTs
- Case overview
- Overview of government benefits
- Means-tested benefits: SSI and Medicaid
- Earned benefits: SSDI and Medicare
- Understanding dual eligibility and benefit coordination
- PSNTs: fundamentals
- Selecting a pooled trust
- Integrating MSAs and structured settlements
- When to use an MSA arrangement
- Coordinating MSAs with pooled trusts to preserve benefits
- Trust administration: client expectations
- Administrator roles and responsibilities
- Distribution process and sole benefit rule
- ABLE accounts and alternate tools
Benefits
The panel will review these and other important issues:
- Preserving Medicaid and SSI eligibility after a settlement or judgment
- PSNTs versus individual trusts
- MSAs: use and trust coordination
- Evaluating trust administrators
- Navigating disbursement rules and sole benefit requirements
- Using ABLE accounts with trusts
Faculty
Rachel Baer, Esq.
Counsel and Director of New Client Services
Commonwealth Community Trust
Ms. Baer, Esq. is Counsel and Director of New Client Services at Commonwealth Community Trust, a non-profit pooled... | Read More
Ms. Baer, Esq. is Counsel and Director of New Client Services at Commonwealth Community Trust, a non-profit pooled trust administrator serving beneficiaries across the United States who are injured, vulnerable, or have special needs. Prior to joining CCT, Ms. Baer was a partner at Family First Law Group, PLLC, in Alexandria, Virginia, and her practice focused on estate planning, estate and trust administration, and guardianship and conservatorship. Prior to entering private practice, she served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Virginia Attorney General’s Health Services Section from 2010 to 2012, helping to advise several state agencies that provide services to persons with disabilities.
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Craig Pawley
Executive Vice President of Business Development
Medivest
Mr. Pawley has spent the last 19 years assisting insurance carriers, third party administrators,... | Read More
Mr. Pawley has spent the last 19 years assisting insurance carriers, third party administrators, self-insureds, and attorneys with settlement planning on workers compensation and liability claims. As a 17-year employee of Medivest, he presents nationally regarding issues ranging from Medicare Set Asides and Professional Administration to the preservation and coordination of public benefits.
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Ben Tiefenback, Esq.
Counsel and Director of Client Services
Commonwealth Community Trust
Mr. Tiefenback, Esq., is Counsel and Director of Client Services at Commonwealth Community Trust, a non-profit... | Read More
Mr. Tiefenback, Esq., is Counsel and Director of Client Services at Commonwealth Community Trust, a non-profit pooled trust administrator serving beneficiaries across the United States who are injured, vulnerable, or have special needs. Prior to joining CCT, Mr. Tiefenback was a trust and estate attorney at Sands Anderson PC and TrustBuilders Law Group. His practice focused on estate planning and trust creation and administration, with an emphasis on special needs trust planning. Mr. Tiefenback currently serves on the board of directors of the Alliance of Pooled Trusts (APT), the first coalition in the United States dedicated to uniting Pooled Trust providers in establishing best practices for the industry. He also writes for CCT and other publications, including NAELA News, and speaks at CLE seminars and other events across the country.
CloseEarly Discount (through 08/01/25)