Disability Law

SSP 2008 Annual Meeting - 2

By Patrick Hindert

The Society of Settlement Planners (SSP) hosted its 2008 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. on March 5-7.  Approximately 75 persons attended the SSP meeting including settlement planners, special needs attorneys and annuity provider representatives. Under direction from 2007 SSP President Anthony Alfieri and Program Chairperson Jack Meligan, SSP's 2008 educational program matched the high standards of previous SSP programs.

SSP members adopted the "Standards of Professional Conduct for Settlement Planners" and elected new officers and directors during SSP's concurrent business meeting. SSP elected Greg Maxwell as 2008 President and Joseph Tombs as SSP Vice President. SSP Directors include: Richard Bishop; Charles Derenne; Paul Lesti; Tim Nay; and Richard Risk. Nay, the first-ever President of NAELA, is also the first-ever special needs attorney to serve on SSP's Board of Directors.

SSP's Educational Program

• Ethics
  • The SSP Code of Ethics (titled: "Standards of Professional Conduct for Settlement Planners") represents a multi-year SSP project initiated and managed by SSP Director and attorney Richard Risk. Carl A. Pierce, distinguished professor of law at the University of Tennessee and a reporter for the latest revision of the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, assisted SSP with this ethics project. Pierce introduced drafts of SSP's Code of Ethics at both the 2007 and 2008 SSP Annual Meetings.
  • Frank Johns, a leading special needs attorney and settlement planning ethicist, also advised SSP on its Code of Ethics. Johns, an SSP member and prominent national speaker, delivered SSP's featured dinner address. Johns' comments focused on ethical considerations for judges, plaintiff attorneys and trustees when selecting a structured settlement or settlement planning professional. Johns' 2008 SSP presentation also featured his proposed  Request for Proposal for settlement planners. Johns originally introduced his ideas for a settlement planner RFP at the 2007 Advanced Elder Law Institute.
• Tax Panel:
  • Organized by structured settlement attorney and moderator Richard Risk, SSP's Tax Panel has become the best annual 90 minute tax discussion in the structured settlement industry.
  • In addition to Risk, SSP's 2008 tax panel participants included:
    • Jody J. Brewster, Tax Partner with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom;
    • Michael J. Montemurro - Branch Chief at the Internal Revenue Service responsible for Income Tax and Accounting;
    • Glenn F. Mackies - Tax Partner at Deloitte & Touche.
  • Of the several topics addressed by the panel, single claimant 468B deservedly received the most attention. The structured settlement industry is waiting for written guidance from the United States Treasury Department as to whether IRC section 468B is applicable to single claimants including definitions of single and multiple claimants. SSP's tax panel provided a detailed and well-presented look at 468B tax issues including:
    • Actual language in IRC section 468B and Rev Rul 93-84
    • Technical and policy Issues created by this language
    • Technical and policy arguments for and against single claimant 468B funds;
    • Impact of economic benefit on single claimant and multiple claimant 468B funds;
    • Defining single claimant and multiple claimants under IRC section 468B.
• Government Benefits -SSP devoted three presentations to government benefit issues.
  • Medicaid
    • David Lillesand, a national leader among social security and special needs trust attorneys dropped a bombshell on the structured settlement industry at the SSP meeting.
    • Based upon Lillesand's discussions with Social Security officials including Ken Brown, Lillesand declared "inoperative" Nancy Veillon's January 31, 2006 letters to attorneys Roger Bernstein and Jay Sangerman representing the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA).
    • NSSTA's letters from SSA are inoperative, according to Lillesand, because:
      • NSSTA's letters from SSA do not represent meaningful authority inside the SSA. POMS yes. Letters no.
      • NSSTA's letters predate (by one week), and fail to address or consider, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.
    • Lillesand said he expects the SSA to issue new POMS within the next few weeks. According to Lillesand, however, the new POMS will not address structured settlements. Lillesand stated "The SSA Office of General Counsel will not approve structured settlement POMS at this time".
    • Lillesand and Ken Brown of the SSA will be featured speakers at the ASNP 2008 Annual Meeting March 27-29 in New Orleans.
    • Lillesand's 2008 SSP presentation focused on the "life or death" issue of Medicaid insurance for disabled persons - plus the challenges and risks for special needs attorneys who recommend annuities as funding and investment options.
    • Lillesand's SSP presentation, and his excellent supporting SSP paper, define serious immediate challenges for the structured settlement and settlement planning professionals who support annuities.
    • Lillesand's solution: a collaborative (multi-trade association) initiative focused on annuities and government benefits. Specifically for Medicaid and structured settlements: convince SSA to draft POMS favorable to annuities and structured settlement annuities. Incorporate the January 31, 2006 NSSTA letters into the POMS.
  • Medicare
    • SSP offered two presentations about Medicare.
      • One titled "Medicare Compliance - Medicare Set Asides (MSA) - Beware of the Medicare Super Lien" featured Paul K. Isaac and Benjamin M. Basista.
      • The other titled "Nuts and Bolts of Medicare Set Aside Arrangements" featured Douglas L. Shaw and Marge George-Ratz of Medivest.
    • For this author, neither SSP  Medicare presentation focused satisfactorily on annuity issues related to Medicare Set-Asides.
    • Advice for future SSP and NSSTA "expert presenters" about Medicare Set-Aside Arrangements:
      • Read and summarize in your presentations CMS Policy Memoranda addressing structured settlement annuities - especially the CMS October 15, 2004 Policy Memorandum;
      • Context the CMS structured settlement policy memoranda within Medicare legal authority generally;
      • Identify any Medicare legal authority that updates or supersedes the October 15, 2004 CMS Policy Memorandum;
      • Further identify the structured settlement issues and opportunities presented by the CMS October 15, 2004 Policy Memorandum - or any updated Medicare legal authority.
      • Recommend strategies for structured settlement stakeholders and proponents to advance the use of annuities as part of developing government benefit legislation - including Medicare set-aside arrangements consistent with Medicaid special needs trusts.
• Secondary Life and Annuity Markets
  • SSP's panel discussion titled "What Settlement Planners Need to Know about the Secondary Markets" expanded previous primary market discussions about the secondary structured settlement markets;
  • This author moderated the SSP secondary market panel discussion featuring:
    • Stephen R. Harris - a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath who represents annuity providers;
    • Earl S. Nesbitt - the Executive Director of the National Association of Settlement Purchasers (NASP) who represents factoring companies; and
    • Rhonda Bentzen - a secondary market intermediary who is the only honorary member of SSP and serves as Chairperson of SSP's Membership Committee.
  • The SSP secondary market discussion included critical questions by SSP members for Nesbitt addressing:
    • Alleged predatory advertising and pricing by factoring companies;
    • Alleged unauthorized use of the term "structured settlement" by factoring companies.
• Legislation and Litigation Update
  • 2008 SSP President Greg Maxwell provided a well-organized summary of recent legal developments impacting settlement planners and structured settlement professionals.
  • 2007 SSP President Anthony Alfieri presented an updated tax analysis of sexual abuse cases.
• Case Studies - SSP offered three presentations focused directly on settlement planning case studies and experience:
  • Professor Joseph Tombs introduced the "Tombs' Dissipation Index" as a settlement planning tool;
  • Jack Meligan and Michele Whitmore addressed detailed settlement planning scenarios with recommended settlement planning techniques and tools.
  • Ward Zimmerman moderated a panel discussion about negotiation tactics featuring Charles Derenne, Michele Whitmore and Jack Meligan.
• Internet Marketing
  • Mathew Hayes provided insights and strategies to improve SSP member email marketing.
  • Hayes' SSP presentation paralelled Mark Wahlstrom's marketing presentation at the NSSTA 2008 Winter Regional Meeting;
  • In this author's opinion, neither Hayes' SSP presentation nor Wahlstrom's NSSTA presentation focused satisfactorally on emerging web 2.0 technologies and tools including blogs, wikis and podcasts.
  • Without web 2.0 training, current settlement planners and structured settlement professionals will not successfully transition to the new generation of Internet-based skill sets, tools and business models.   
    

For prior S2KM coverage about:

• SSP - see this S2KM blog post.
• Web 2.0 - see this S2KM blog post
• Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 - see this S2KM blog post
• Secondary Life and Annuity Markets - see this S2KM blog post.

Full post as published by Beyond Structured Settlements on March 12, 2008 (boomark / email).