Tjaden v. State of Illinois

DHS properly imposed penalty periods of noneligibility due to certain nonallowable asset transfers made by applicants for Medicaid assistance. If a state accepts partial returns of transfers made by applicants, a state may prorate but not eliminate penalty. Applicants did not receive any value at time of transfers, but checks were written back to them by their children after gifts were made. DHS did not err in denying applicants credit for partial returns. DHS properly characterized applicants’ life insurance policy purchases, as nonexempt as no burial contracts existed and no showing was made they received fair market value for purchases. (KNECHT and STEIGMANN, concurring.)