OBRA Special Needs Pooled Trusts, as well as other types of trusts, are being utilized by unethical lawyers, nurses, and guardianship companies in Cook County, Illinois, to enrich themselves while the elderly disabled wards are being assigned court-appointed guardians and being placed into public aid nursing homes.
In fact, one Cook County Probate Court lawyer educates her peers in ways in which very large estates may be placed into OBRA and/or other types of trusts, to allow the disabled ward to qualify for Medicaid. She also educates her peers on which types of trusts are lacking oversite, and which types of trusts allow for "administrative fees" (i.e., attorneys' and guardians' fees). Her educational video, which some feel to be controversial, may be viewed at this website: IllinoisProBono.org
Unfortunately, some corrupt players in the Cook County Probate Court system (lawyers, nurses, judges, and guardianship companies) are using this legal loophole so they may enrich themselves through OBRA Special Needs Pooled Trusts. This Medicaid abuse can occur because only certain "special needs" expenses may be paid from OBRA Special Needs Pooled Trusts, such as medical bills, insurance premiums, and "administrative fees". However, housing may NOT be paid from these accounts. As a result, the ward is immediately moved to public aid housing once their estate is placed into the OBRA Special Needs Trust.
There are numerous victims of this Medicaid Abuse scheme. There are even cases in Cook County where the lawyers and/or guardians, with the knowledge of the judge, illegally deposited dis-allowable funds of the ward (VA disability benefits, newly-discovered funds, etc) into the OBRA Trust.
Also, please contact the VA benefits office nearest you if you identify illegal funding of an OBRA account with VA benefits.
To read more about this abuse, visit www.ProbateSharks.com.
Full Article and Source:
NASGA: Soapbox: OBRA Trust Accounts: Medicaid Planning or Medicaid Fraud and Abuse
12 comments:
Answer: MEDICAID FRAUD and ABUSE!
Figures to be a lawyer scam!
Its a shame that this kind of abuse still goes on with so many Americans out there needing the economic support. I think if Medicaid abuses were cut down, we wouldn't have to raise taxes or make cuts to Medicare. Thanks for sharing the information!
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hey that means we the ordinary tax paying chump people are stuck with the bills while the lawyers run off with the loot sounds like a bad plan to me I say bring back the old days when there was a strong standing for right vs wrong back in the good old days when the thieves were tracked down by the good guys and the bad guys were given immediate wild west justice at the nearest oak tree
I could go on and on about Janna Dutton and her 'instructional video.' She's not looking out for her clients best intersts, she looks out for herself and colleagues.
Oh! what a surprise that this scheme is thriving in Crook County Illinois. They do you and do it better in Illinois don't they?
And we all know this is why they call it CROOK County!
I have never heard of OBRA Trusts and I wonder if they're in every state.
Thank you for this informative post.
I was going to contest an accounting in my case and was talking to a laywer friend of mine and he advised me to just let it go. He said, "The judge always pays the guardian and the lawyer."
And this is an example of just another way they see to it that they get the money.
Hey, Probate Sharks is a great site!
Very interesting & informative. Thanks you all for your continuous efforts to educate the American citizens.
So what else is new?
These courts must come under some kind of control!
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