Joining The Trust
Eligibility
Protect Your family is available to all residents of New York State, including the elderly, who have been determined disabled by the State of New York and wish to be enrolled in Medicaid but has a monthly income or excessive resources prohibiting them from being eligible for the program.
Opening up an Account
The trust account must be established by the beneficiary, their Guardian, or a Power of Attorney. Head to the Pooled Income Trust or Pooled Asset Trust page to complete an online application.
Once you complete the application, the signed and notarized Joinder Agreement should be mailed with the application fee and any supporting documents to:
PYF POOLED TRUST DEPARTMENT
303 Merrick Road
Suite #508
Lynbrook, NY 11563
All checks should be made payable to:
PROTECT YOUR FAMILY
(please list Beneficiary's name on Memo Line)
Funding Your Account
In order to fund your account, you will need to deposit the surplus amount, as determined by Medicaid, every month.
There are three ways by which you can fund the trust account monthly:
- Manually write out a check for the surplus amount and mail it in. Please make sure client name and PYF account number is listed on the check.
- Set up Automatic Bill Pay through client's bank account. The bank will then mail PYF a check for the surplus amount each month. This is a monthly automatic payment from Client's account that gets mailed to PYF.
- Set up Direct Deposit through the client's online PYF account. You will need to log into the online PYF account and click the “Set Up Direct Deposit” button on the client’s dashboard. You will be required to enter your bank account information and a recurring withdrawal date.
Getting Bills Paid
Once you have begun to fund your trust, you can begin to send in bills for payments.
Payment can only be made for items that are considered an "allowable expense." It must be an expense that is for the sole benefit of the Beneficiary, in the Beneficiary's name, and specifically provides for the Beneficiary's needs, wants, care, education, training, rehabilitation and/or comfort, as well as, any other expenditure allowable by applicable laws.
Sample allowable items are: rent, mortgage, property taxes, homeowners insurance, car insurance, utilities such as gas, electric, cable, water, telephone, cell phone, credit cards with allowable charges such as groceries, clothing, pharmacy, furniture, so long as it is in the client's name and for the client's use. (*Please note this list is not inclusive)
There are two types of bills that can be sent in:
- Recurring Payment – these are bills that are the same amount every month (i.e. Rent). You can set them up as an automatic payment with PYF by filling out a Recurring Request Form along with a copy the bill itself. The payment will automatically go out every month based on the information you supplied. There is no need to send in the request again once it is set up.
- Individual Bill – these are bills that you either want paid one time (i.e. a landscaping bill) or that fluctuate in amount month-to-month (i.e. credit card bill). A Distribution Form will need to be filled out and sent over along with a copy of the bills.
Payment requests along with a copy of the bill can be sent via:
Mail: PYF POOLED TRUST DEPARTMENT, 303 Merrick Road, Suite #508 Lynbrook, NY 11563
Fax: (516) 837-9430
Email: Sent to your assigned trust account staff member.
Account Transfers
We accept all clients who want to transfer to the PYF Trust from another New York State Medicaid pooled income trust. Just fill out the Background and Joinder Agreement. Send the forms along with proof of current trust and the sign up fee will be waived!
**Please refer to our Policies and Procedures for a more detailed listing.**