Court Opinion

ID: 9741200
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:51:31.42823+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:22.873156
License: Public Domain

CANE, P.J.
(dissenting). I respectfully dissent. Divestment resulting in medical assistance ineligibility is defined as the disposal of resources or assets at less than fair market value within certain time periods relative to the application for medical assistance benefits or the institutionalization of the person making the disposition. Section 49.453(2), Stats.1 In essence, indi*395viduals cannot take some action to divest themselves of an asset in order to become or remain eligible for medical assistance. Section 49.453(l)(a), STATS.2
Action is defined as "Conduct; behavior; something done; the condition of acting; an act or series of acts." Black's Law Dictionary 28 (6th ed. 1990). The term act is defined as an external manifestation of the actor's will. "In its most general sense, this noun signifies something done voluntarily by a person;... In a more technical sense, it means something done voluntarily by a person, and of such a nature that certain legal consequences attach to it." Id. at 25. Similarly, WEBSTER'S New Collegiate Dictionary 12 (1980), defines action as "the bringing about of an alteration by force", *396"an act of will", and "a thing accomplished." As the circuit court noted, nowhere in these definitions is there expressed the concept of passivity, resignation or acceptance. To the contrary, all of the synonyms denote just the opposite: an act of performance.
One must keep in mind that Phyllis Tannler did nothing in this case. She did not dispose or divest herself of any assets in order to receive medical assistance benefits. Simply put, Phyllis's husband willed his estate to a grandson and the grandson's wife. In order for Phyllis to claim a share of her husband's estate, she is required to assert a claim against her husband's estate. If she does nothing, the estate passes on to the named beneficiaries. She did nothing. The department reasons that by electing not to file a claim against her husband's estate, Phyllis was taking an action to divest herself of an asset because the decision not to file such a claim is an act in itself. I disagree.
Were this a situation where Phyllis had been gifted a share of her husband's estate and she refused to accept the gift, I would agree with the department. In that type of a situation, she would have been required to take some action to divest herself of an asset in order to remain eligible for medical assistance. However, this is not even a gift requiring that she take some action to refuse. Therefore, I disagree with the majority and conclude that Phyllis took no action to divest herself of an asset.

 Section 49.453(2), STATS., provides in relevant part:
(2) Ineligibility for medical assistance for certain services.
(a) Institutionalized individuals. Except as provided in sub. (8), if an institutionalized individual or his or her spouse, or another person acting on behalf of the institutionalized individual or his or her spouse, transfers assets for less than fair market value on or after the institutionalized individual's look-back date, the institutionalized individual is ineligible for medical assistance for the following services for the period specified under sub. (3):
1. For nursing facility services.
2. For a level of care in a medical institutional equivalent to that of a nursing facility.
3. For services under a waiver under 42 USC 1396n.
(b) Noninstitutionalized individuals. Except as provided in sub.
(8), if a noninstitutionalized individual or his or her spouse, or *395another person acting on behalf of the noninstitutionalized individual or his or her spouse, transfers assets for less than fair market value on or after the noninstitutionalized individual's look-back date, the noninstitutionalized individual is ineligible for medical assistance for the following services for the period specified under sub. (3):
1. Services that are described in 42 USC 1396d(a)(7), (22) or (24).
2. Other long-term care services specified by the department by rule.

 Section 49.453(l)(a), Stats., provides that "assets" has the meaning given in 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(e)(l) (1995), which states:
The term "assets", with respect to an individual, includes all income and resources of the individual and of the individual's spouse, including any income or resources which the individual or such individual's spouse is entitled to but does not receive because of action—
(A) by the individual or such individual's spouse,
(B) by a person, including a court or administrative body, with legal authority to act in place of or on behalf of the individual or such individual's spouse, or
(C) by any person, including any court or administrative body, acting at the direction or upon the request of the individual or such individual's spouse.