Medicaid Qualified Income Trust a trying process

Back in July, I wrote about Ohio's changing Medicaid eligibility requirements for nursing home residents whose monthly income exceeds $2,199. I was required to set up a Qualified Income Trust (QIT/Miller trust) so I could meet Medicaid eligibility guidelines.

In the beginning, I contacted Automated Health Systems who was contracted to assist nursing home residents on Medicaid to get the trust set up. I am sure some residents went to the bank. However, I knew it would be much easier for me if the forms could be completed here at the facility and then have them transported to the bank.

It took a couple months before I learned my bank accepted the trusts. I had to fill out the forms, sign them and the facility's business manager delivered them to the bank. However, a couple of weeks later, the bank could not find the trust document and another had to be faxed to them.

Automated Health Systems told me to contact the bank frequently to check on the progress of the trust document. However, I was frequently put on hold, and it was difficult to get an answer. When I heard nothing by early September, I sent an e-mail through the bank's website to check on the trust's progress. The bank advised me it was in their legal department.

When I heard nothing further by the end of September, I went to my bank's website and chatted with customer service. They said they would contact my bank's branch and a representative would contact me. Soon after, a bank employee e-mailed and asked me to send three proofs of identification by e-mail to my branch, which I did.

A week later, when I heard nothing back from my branch's employee, I again went to the bank's website and chatted with customer service. I was told I would receive a letter with a contact number. When I called, I got the bank's branch manager. She set up a time to come to my facility so I could sign the QIT paperwork.

I was told I only had to sign one form. After it was e-mailed to Automated Health Systems, I was advised to download, complete and sign two other forms. They were signed, scanned and e-mailed back to Automated Health systems, and the trust was set up Oct. 7. The branch manager said since I already had an account there, the bank would not charge me a monthly service fee for the QIT.

A few weeks later, Ohio's Job and Family Services sent me a mailing with the amount of my monthly income that must be deposited into the QIT each month for me to pay nursing home bills and to maintain eligibility.

Kathleen Mears

Kathleen Mears is a long-time blogger who has been a nursing home resident for 21 years. She is an incomplete quadriplegic and uses a power wheelchair to get around. Her computer is her “window on the world.” This blog shares her thoughts and view of life as a nursing home resident as well as ideas of how it might be improved in the future.