Special Needs Answers:  “When helping older clients quickly qualify for Medicaid coverage of long-term care, elder law attorneys often ask right at the outset, ‘Do you have a relative with special needs?' The reason this question is so important is because under federal Medicaid law, someone applying for Medicaid long-term care (nursing home) benefits can transfer her assets into a special needs trust for the ‘sole benefit' of a person with disabilities, and that transfer will not disqualify the Medicaid applicant from receiving benefits. In other words, a senior who is willing to give away her assets to a person with special needs, and who meets all the other Medicaid eligibility requirements, can almost always qualify for Medicaid quickly.”