GOP pushes to allow middle income seniors to qualify for Medicaid
A little-known provision in state law that allows middle income senior citizens to qualify for Medicaid is in danger of being watered down to the point where it won’t help people in need, according to two Bay Ridge Republican lawmakers.
Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-C-Bay Ridge-Staten Island) and state Sen. Marty Golden (R-C-Bay Ridge-southern Brooklyn) came to the Saint Nicholas Home, a nursing home on Ovington Avenue, on Feb. 7 to urge elderly residents to write to Governor Andrew Cuomo to demand that he preserve intact what is known as the right of spousal refusal.
Under the right of spousal refusal the assets of a husband and wife are considered separate, even if the couple has been married for decades. A husband or wife with an ailing spouse in need of nursing home care can hold onto their own assets, separating them from the assets of the stricken spouse. Such a designation is crucial, according to Malliotakis, who said that it helps the healthy spouse hold onto at least some of the assets a couple has earned over a lifetime, instead of having to become destitute in order to qualify for Medicaid.