McDonald v. Illinois Department of Human Services 

Medicaid applicant transferred nearly $125,000 in cash gifts in the year leading up to her application for benefits, and her eligibility for medical assistance was thus delayed by imposition of a 17-month penalty period. Transfers of personal property for purposes of determining any penalty period include transfers of income and assets; if a transfer of income is made under circumstances that would render any other transfer nonallowable, the transfer of income is itself nonallowable.. Equitable estoppel is not applicable as to erroneous letter written in 2001 by then-chief of bureau of policy of predecessor to HFS, as the letter does not constitute an act by the State itself; chief is a ministerial officer. The asset-transfer policy and corresponding penalties of the federal medical-assistance laws are binding on any states participating in Medicaid program. (MYERSCOUGH and APPLETON, concurring.)