Yes sir, you're correct. What I'm suggesting, though, is that I suspect that much estate planning would focus on categorizing the estate such that its valuation fell below whatever threshold was established. I'm also assuming that the threshold would be low enough that it would catch those...
I concur with this completely, but, suspect such an approach would primarily serve to generate more work for estate planning attorneys, and that work would preclude the realized and intended benefit to the SS budget.