Medicare Open Enrollment Time Is Coming: Is Your Plan Still Working for You?
Every year Medicare gives beneficiaries a window of opportunity to shop around and determine if their current Medicare plan is still the best one for them. During Medicare's Open Enrollment Period, which runs from October 15 to December 7, beneficiaries can freely...
Medicare’s Limited Nursing Home Coverage
Many people believe that Medicare covers nursing home stays. In fact Medicare's coverage of nursing home care is quite limited. Medicare covers up to 100 days of "skilled nursing care" per illness, but there are a number of requirements that must be met before the...
Medicaid’s Power to Recoup Benefits Paid: Estate Recovery and Liens
Federal law requires the state to attempt to recover the long-term care benefits from a Medicaid recipient's estate after the recipient's death. If steps aren't taken to protect the Medicaid recipient's house, it may need to be sold to settle the claim. For Medicaid...
Three Tips When Hiring a Caregiver for a Special Needs Child
Hiring a caregiver for someone with special needs can be a daunting task. Not only do you have to find a person with the experience, compassion, patience, and skills to work with your loved one, but you also have to comply with a host of employment laws and...
6 Things to Ask Before Agreeing to Be a Trustee
Being asked to serve as the trustee of the trust of a family member is a great honor. It means that the family member trusts your judgment and is willing to put the welfare of the beneficiary or beneficiaries in your hands. But being a trustee is also a great...
Leaving an IRA to a Special Needs Trust Is No Longer Such a Bad Idea
The SECURE Act, passed at the end of 2019, changed a number of rules regarding inherited IRAs, making it more difficult for most beneficiaries to save on taxes by "stretching" distributions over many years. However, an exception to the new rules potentially changes...
Pandemic Payments Now Won’t Affect SSI Benefits or Eligibility at All
Pandemic-related financial assistance will no longer affect an individual’s eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or the benefit amount, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced. The assistance includes a long list of pandemic payments,...
Elder Care Question: Is There Anything I Can Do to Make a Nursing Home Give Me Health Information About My Spouse?
You may or may not have any rights as a spouse, depending on state law. The durable power of attorney gives you certain legal and financial powers to act on behalf of your spouse, but these don’t necessarily extend to medical information. For that, you would need a...
Resident’s Son Not Liable for Breach of Contract Because He Did Not Cause His Mother to Be Ineligible for Medicaid
A New York appeals court rules that a nursing home resident’s son who signed an admission agreement, agreeing to take all necessary steps to provide documentation for his mother’s Medicaid application, is entitled to summary judgment in a breach of contract claim by...
Medicaid Applicant Cannot Appeal Agency’s Decision to Not Reopen Case
An Illinois appeals court rules that a Medicaid applicant could not appeal the Medicaid agency’s refusal to reopen her case because such a decision does not require due process, unlike the decision to deny her application. Flachs v. Illinois Department of Human...
Long-Term Care Insurance: Where We Are Now
With nursing home care in some parts of the country costing as much as $10,000 a month, a long-term need for care can deplete even the best-planned estate. As a result, many seniors buy long-term care insurance to cover this risk. One great advantage of this insurance...
Advance Medical Directives? Now There’s an App for That
More Americans than ever can now store information on smartphones and tablet devices. Whether engaging in online banking, using a mobile plane boarding pass, or creating work calendars shared in the cloud, the internet provides needed connectivity. Yet critical...
Can We Return Gifted Property So That Our Mother Is Not Subject to a Medicaid Transfer Penalty?
Yes. If someone transfers property for less than fair market value within five years of applying for Medicaid, they will be subject to a penalty period. This penalty is a period of time during which the person transferring the assets will be ineligible for Medicaid....
End-of-Life Care Decision Making
Just as we create estate plans for our eventual demise, we also need to plan ahead for the possibility that we will become sick and unable to make our own medical decisions. Medical science has created many miracles, among them the technology to keep patients alive...
Conservator Acting Pursuant to a Judge’s Authorization Is a Quasi Judicial Officer and Has Immunity
Massachusetts’ highest court holds that a conservator was acting pursuant to a judge’s approval when she evicted a tenant and sold a house, so she is a quasi judicial officer and is immune from claims that she breached her fiduciary duty and converted...