Existing federal law allows for the creation of a tax-advantaged savings account for a person who has certain qualifying disabilities, which is commonly known as an ABLE Account. Under the program, any person may make a contribution to the ABLE Account of a person with a qualified disability. Any interest or other growth in the value of the ABLE Account is not taxed, and any distribution from the ABLE Account is not taxed if the distribution is used to pay expenses related to living a life with a disability, including, without limitation, education, housing, transportation, health care, employment training and support, and assistive technology and personal support services. Money in an ABLE Account or distributions from an ABLE Account do not affect the eligibility of a person for certain public benefits such as Social Security disability payments, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and Medicaid. To qualify for these advantages of an ABLE Account, the savings account into which contributions are made on behalf of a qualified person must be established and maintained by the qualified person's state of residence or another state that has adopted a qualified program and entered into a contract with the qualified person's state of residence. (26 U.S.C. § 529A) Existing state law requires the State Treasurer, in cooperation with the Aging and Disability Services Division of the Department of Health and Human Services, to establish or otherwise ensure the establishment of the Nevada ABLE Savings Program as a qualified program under federal law. (NRS 427A.882-427A.896) Existing federal and state law provide that under certain circumstances, the Department is required to recover benefits correctly paid under Medicaid from the estate of a deceased person who received those benefits or any recipient of money or property from the estate of such a deceased person. (42 U.S.C. § 1396p; NRS 422.29302) Under existing federal law, upon the death of the designated beneficiary of an ABLE Account, a state is authorized to file a claim for payment from the ABLE Account to recover benefits paid under Medicaid on behalf of the designated beneficiary that are recoverable by the state. (26 U.S.C. § 529A(f)) Sections 1 and 3 of this bill provide that unless federal law otherwise requires, the Department or any other officer or agency of State Government is prohibited from seeking to recover benefits correctly paid under Medicaid for a designated beneficiary of an ABLE Account: (1) from any money remaining in the ABLE Account upon the death of the designated beneficiary; or (2) by filing a claim for recovery from the ABLE Account. Section 1 additionally requires the Director of the Department to apply for any necessary federal approval to carry out these provisions. Section 2 of this bill authorizes the Director to administer the provisions of section 1 in the same manner that the Director administers existing law governing the recovery of benefits paid under Medicaid. Section 4 of this bill provides that upon the passage and approval of this bill, the Department and any other officer or agency of the State Government are required to terminate any attempt to recover Medicaid benefits from an ABLE Account, unless recovery from an ABLE Account is required by federal law.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 422.29301, 422.29302
BDR: 422.29301, 422.29302