Save Your Personal Injury Award With OBRA (42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)) Special Needs Trusts in Pennsylvania (PA) and elsewhere. Many individuals injured in an accident, through negligence or medical malpractice find themselves disabled to varying degrees. Among the things they can no longer do is maintain a job. Therefore these individuals receive public benefits such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to assist in maintaining their lives. Lawsuits and ultimately, large monetary awards stem from these types of injuries. It is likely that once these personal injury awards are paid to the individual, they will be disqualified from the public benefits of SSI and Medicaid. The personal injury award could be lost quickly to pay for the recipient’s ongoing medical care and living expenses. An important solution is the OBRA “Payback” Special Needs Trust. Click here to learn more about this type of trust and Special Needs Trusts in general. Generally, the benefits recipient is legally permitted to create a Special Needs Trust for his or her own benefit for the balance of his or her lifetime. This self-settled Special Needs Trust allows the personal injury award to be maintained to supplement and enhance the individual’s public benefits with the balance of the trust being paid back to Pennsylvania (PA) at the death of the recipient.
