58 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 30, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
coping with death
Special considerations
for Medicaid/SSI
applicants & recipients
All citizens – regardless of income – are
entitled to and deserving of both a proper
funeral service and a burial with dignity
and respect. In fact, federal and state laws
support this guiding principle in a number
of ways.
First, any person applying for Medicaid/
SSI can set aside funds for the sole purpose
of paying their funeral/burial expenses
as part of the spend-down process to
Medicaid/SSI eligibility. Th e funeral/burial
funds set aside will not be counted as
part of the individual’s fi nancial resources.
A Medicaid/SSI eligible individual must
fi rst notify his or her caseworker that funds
will be set aside to pay their funeral/burial
tax expenses.
Second, New York State law requires that
100% of these funeral/burial funds be placed
in an irrevocable trust account, making certain
that they will be available when needed
and used for no other purpose than what
they were intended. A trust which is titled
‘irrevocable’ means that any refund or withdrawal,
for any purpose, will and must legally
be refused by the funeral director and/or
funeral trust or fi nancial institution.
An applicant/recipient of Medicaid/SSI
may also set aside funds in irrevocable
funeral trust accounts for the following
immediate family members: spouse, children,
stepchildren, siblings and parents, as
well as the spouses of those individuals.
Please note that when the original purchaser
passes away, the benefi ciary (family
member) becomes the new purchaser and
taxpayer. If there is any excess money in the
preneed account aft er the funeral and burial
charges have been paid, the overage will go
to the county where the decedent resided.
Th e funds used to establish an irrevocable
preneed funeral account must be used
only for reasonable and common funeral
expenses for such things as professional
services, transportation, facilities and merchandise,
as well as cash advances to cover
the cemetery and other related charges.
Finally, the individual has the right to use
any funeral home they choose. Th e funeral
home selection may be changed at any time,
for any reason.
Th e New York State Funeral Directors
Association and its more than 3,500 licensed
funeral director members helped to create
the law that allows Medicaid and SSI recipients
to plan ahead for their fi nal wishes.
Courtesy of NYS Funeral Directors
Association
In memoriam: Dr. Sandra Delson
Dr. Sandra Delson, a community
champion dedicated to nonprofi t
organizations, educational institutions
and the Democratic Party, died on
Wednesday, Aug.
22. She was 85.
For 20 years,
she with mental
health agency
Transitional
Services for New
York, Inc. Her
support created
The Delson
House, an aff ordable
housing center
for low income
residents and
those with psychiatric
disability.
Dr. Delson
was a generous
supporter of
Queensborough
C o m m u n i t y
College and the Kupferberg Holocaust
Resource Center and Archives and
one of its founding members. Sandy’s
Terrace was created in memory of her
parents, Dr. Alexander A. Gaines and
Ruth Krauss Gaines. Dr. Delson was
elected to the QCC Fund Board of
Directors in 2007 and served on the
Holocaust Center Advisory Board.
In addition, Dr. Delson served as
a board member at Queens Public
Television, Visions and NY Hospital
of Queens. She was also a professor
at several colleges, a Democratic
State Committeewoman and president
of Delson Public
Relations, which
serves NYU’s
Metro Center for
Education, the
U.S. Merchant
Marine Academy,
Parsons Hospital,
and the Seatbelt
Safety Coalition.
She worked on
political campaigns,
including
those of President
Jimmy Carter and
Governor Mario
Cuomo.
Dr. Delson
earned her B.A.
and M.A. from
the University
of Michigan and her Ed.D. Degree
from Columbia University’s Teacher’s
College. She was accredited by the
Public Relations Society of America.
She is predeceased by sister Carole
Gaines and survived by her daughter,
Jennifer Delson, and grandchildren
Marcos and Zoe Mena.
Services were off ered on Monday,
Aug. 27, at Sinai Chapels in Fresh
Meadows.