In Re Keri

The New Jersey Supreme Court decided that it is lawful to institute a Medicaid spend-down on behalf of an incompetent individual when certain criteria are met. Medicaid spend-down plans are permissible when the plan does not interrupt or diminish the care that an incompetent person receives, when that plan involves the transfer of that person’s natural objects, when the plan is not contrary to any expressed prior interest or intent, and the plan is clear in providing for the best interest of the incompetent person and satisfies the law’s goal of allowing decisions to be made on an incompetent person’s behalf that the person would make if he or she were able to act.