Published: December 19, 2008 09:46 pm      

Some gifts take more than they give

Whose heart isn’t touched by the picture of a young child suffering from some rare disease? It’s also heart-rending to consider the financial burden on families who don’t have the resources to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for organ transplants and travel and living accommodations for stays at out-of-state medical facilities.

Southern West Virginia has a big heart, and there are often gospel sings and other fundraisers to ease the burden on these families.

However, donors could inadvertently be imposing an even greater burden, particularly if the family receives any kind of special financial benefits such as Social Security or money provided by the Department of Health and Human Resources.

Those benefits are based on income guidelines and the family’s financial resources. Additional money can be considered additional income and, in some cases, can lead to the loss of government funds.

“Donations could affect the ability to get those benefits if the person covered by a DHHR plan has access to those assets,” said Doug Robinson, assistant commissioner of finances and administration for the West Virginia DHHR.

“However, if a trust fund is set up so that the person does not receive the money until he or she reaches a certain age, different guidelines may apply.

“All our guidelines are based on federal guidelines and they are posted on our Web site so people can see exactly what they are,” Robinson said.

In fact, DHHR clients hit by a catastrophe of some kind might find a program listed on the Web site that could better meet their needs than getting a few extra dollars here and there through fundraisers or a trust fund.

“It’s our job to serve the neediest people in our state. There are programs available to help in all kinds of situations. If you’re not comfortable with trying to access information from the Web site, go visit your local DHHR office. Those representatives can help you find the information you need and they know about the different programs available,” Robinson said.

The general rule is that a client can have no more than $2,000 in assets. When money accumulates in a trust fund that puts the asset level above that amount, the client can lose benefits.

The same is true for children with disabilities.

If a child with disabilities accumulates more than $2,000 in total assets — including money in a bank account, bonds or CDs — the child and his family could lose thousands of dollars in government funding and services. These resources are crucial and help keep some families from going broke paying to care for and educate their children.

“The government has strict limits on how much money can be in the child’s name and the limit is very low,” said Joanne Gruszkos, director of the SpecialCare program at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.

The program gives special needs families access to information, specialists, financial products and critical services.

“If a child with special needs has more than $2,000 in his name, the government could freeze benefits such as Medicaid, Medicare, Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Income,” Gruszkos said.

It doesn’t take a huge gift to push a child over the limit; as little as $10 could do it. If the child has $1,995 in his name, $10 puts them over the limit at $2005.

“Families of children with special needs must be very careful about accepting gifts from well meaning friends and family,” Gruszkos said. “Families have literally lost thousands of dollars in aid and services because they didn’t know how to plan.”

For more information about DHHR benefits eligibility, visit www.wvdhhr.org.

— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com