Estate Practice & Elder Law Community Elder Care

Deirdre Wheatley-Liss: Sequester Cuts Hurting Seniors

dwheatley@feinsuch.com (Deirdre R. Wheatley-Liss) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:38:00 -0400

Will the ridiculous gridlock in Washington that has a sledgehammer instead of scalpel being used to address the cancer of a bloated budget affect your world immediately? As a working adult or family, likely not, For seniors, the cuts could have a more immediate and devastating effect. Most seniors are living on fixed income - their resources don't change just because their expenses for necessities goes up.

Elderlawanswers.com recently talked about what the sequester cuts could mean to seniors

Managing Malpractice in Medicare’s Never-Never Land

LNEPEL@placeholder.com (LexisNexis Estate and Elder Law Center Staff) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:11:00 -0400

Some things just aren't supposed to happen. In health care, they are referred to as "never events" and include hospital-acquired infections or injuries, medication errors and objects left inside patients during

Memory Loss, Retirement and Aging

ghgiddens@trustcounselpa.com (Gregory Herman-Giddens) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:11:00 -0400

Memory loss comes in many forms. From mild cognitive impairment and dementia, to the severe effects of advancing Alzheimer's, the number of senior citizens affected by memory impairments is only going up. 1 in 5 Americans over the age of 70 are afflicted by some type of memory loss. Families often recognize the importance of advanced estate planning when thinking of retirement for aging Americans with a growing rate of memory impairment. However, seniors may avoid

The United States Postal Service has said it will discontinue Saturday letter delivery beginning August 2013, saying it will save it $2 billion annually. That's a chunk of change, but just a small patch on the red ink

Duane Morris LLP: Deadline Looming (March 23, 2013) for Nursing Facilities to Have "In Operation" an "Effective Compliance and Ethics Program"

Duane.Morris@placeholder.com (Duane Morris LLP) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:51:00 -0400

On March 23, 2013, it will have been three years since President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. This date is a significant one for the nursing home industry, not because it marks the third anniversary of the ACA, but because it marks a key deadline. As the owners, operators and administrators of nursing facilities are, or should be, aware, Section 6102 of the ACA requires nursing facilities on March 23, 2013, to "have in operation a compliance and ethics program that is effective in preventing and detecting criminal, civil, and administrative violations under this Act." This deadline should not be ignored or taken lightly.

It Has Come to This – We Now Need Shelters to Protect Our Grandparents

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:41:00 -0400

Hey, trusted loved one, stop abusing your elderly mother, father, aunt or uncle!

Of course, your abuse doesn't depend on you being a loved one, and the victim doesn't have to be a relative - just a senior who trusts you to treat him or her compassionately. And it might not be physical abuse - you might not be punching or beating. It might be financial abuse, which can be just as painful and just as damaging as a bloody lip or bruised arm.

Two weeks ago, Andrea Lee Negroni recounted

Possibly you have read about Elder Abuse in various publications. Unfortunately, it is a real phenomenon. Abuse can occur in physical forms or financially. Well, Virginia just might be ahead of the curve in this matter. The Virginia General Assembly, backed up by the Virginia State Crime Commission, plans to advocate for new laws to prevent financial exploitation of the elderly or mentally incapacitated in the 2013 session. Previous efforts in past sessions had failed. What makes this time different?

Good news for Medicare recipients! Just in time for the New Year 2013! In the past, Medicare recipients were unable to receive home health services such as nursing care and therapies if they had a chronic condition. As a result of a court case that originated in Vermont, that is about to change. Vermont Chief Judge Christina Reiss will sign off on the settlement after a hearing on January 24, 2013. The settlement will apply nationally, and it will mean a big change from the current practice. At present, the Medicare recipients had to have had a reasonable chance of recovering from the condition before they could receive rehabilitative services in

Duane Morris LLP: ACOs and Long-Term Care: Don't Get Left Behind

Duane.Morris@placeholder.com (Duane Morris LLP) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 07:31:00 -0400

With the U.S. Supreme Court decision ratifying President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the "Affordable Care Act"), the implementation and development of accountable care organizations (ACOs) continued in full force this past summer. While most are likely to agree that ACOs would have continued with or without the Supreme Court decision, the Court's approval of the healthcare reform insurance mandates appears to have increased the impetus for providers to enter into appropriate ACO alignments.

dwheatley@feinsuch.com (Deirdre R. Wheatley-Liss) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 07:55:00 -0400

For years I have counseled clients that if they enter rehab after a hospital stay that for a practical perspective they will only get 20 days of skilled cared (covered under Medicare) unless they can show they are "improving". This so-called "improvement standard" was never law, and now Medicare is changing its rules to make it clear that no such standard exists.

Caregiving for an aging loved one: It's not just about bathing, shopping and handling finances anymore.

[Originally posted Oct 16, 2012]

Medicare Open Enrollment began yesterday, October 15, and continues through December 7, 2012. The enrollment period ends earlier than in previous years, so those considering making a change should

In Pennsylvania, if Your Elderly Parents Can’t Pay for Their Long-Term Care, Then You Might Be on the Hook for It

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:58:00 -0400

Colonial Poor Law Imposing Liability on Today's Adult Children

Last April, Julian Gray and Frank Petrich, both elder law attorneys, authored a Pittsburgh-Post Gazette article on a Pennsylvania law that can potentially saddle children with the unpaid costs of their parents' long-term care. The law,

Many Sarasota and Manatee County Florida residents in

Hook Law Center: For Medicaid, Long-Term Care Costs of Elderly are Rising

HookLawCenter@placeholder.com (Hook Law Center) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 09:35:00 -0400

It should be no surprise that the costs for the long-term care of the elderly are rising. The baby boom generation is now aging, and there are many more of them to take care of. Many of their parents are still requiring

Medicare May No Longer Use Improvement Standard to Deny Short-Term Skilled Care

klf@karplaw.com (karplaw) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:11:00 -0400

The beginning of open enrollment and intense speculation about the election's impact on Medicare are not the only Medicare-related headlines these days. A new development may greatly help Medicare beneficiaries with chronic conditions

Hook Law Center: Hospitalization as an Inpatient vs. "Under Observation:" If You're Medicare Eligible, the Difference Can Be Very Costly

HookLawCenter@placeholder.com (Hook Law Center) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:21:00 -0400

Hospital Admission Advisory

Do you know the difference between being admitted to a hospital as an INPATIENT or as someone UNDER OBSERVATION? If you're eligible for Medicare, the difference

Online Legal Documents are Deficient

ghgiddens@trustcounselpa.com (Gregory Herman-Giddens) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:13:00 -0400

A recent article in Consumers Reports featured a blind test of online legal documents by three law school professors. Their conclusion:

Using any of the three services is generally better than drafting the documents yourself without legal training or not having them at all. But unless your needs are simple - say, you want to leave your entire estate to your spouse - none of the will-writing products is likely to entirely meet your needs. And in some cases, the other documents aren't specific enough or contain language that could lead to "an unintended result."

Bottom line is people don't know what they don't know, so they have no way to judge the quality of legal documents on their own. This particularly a problem for

A Not-So-funny Riddle from Medicare: When Is Being in the Hospital Not Being in the Hospital?

klf@karplaw.com (karplaw) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 06:52:00 -0400

When is being admitted to the hospital, not being in the hospital? When you are admitted for observation.

This is not just a semantic distinction. If you are on Medicare, the way the hospital stay classifies your stay can have huge implications for your pocketbook, both during your stay and possibly after. Moreover, you might not even know that you are classified as "observation status" until the episode is over.

Observation status usually means that either the hospital is unable to determine what is wrong, or you don't necessarily need inpatient services. For example, you might go to the emergency room complaining of nausea and chest pains. If

Paying for Nursing Home Care with Medicare or Medicaid | How MassHealth Works

atty.mcnamara@comcast.net (Tim J. McNamara) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:20:00 -0400

After visiting the hospital from a sudden fall, or some other unexpected medical event, an older or elderly patient almost always requires some extended time for recovery. But a hospital bed isn't really the appropriate place for such a long recovery, since hospitals are intended mainly to care for those needing emergency attention, intensive care, or otherwise monitoring of a potentially unstable condition. So instead, the hospital usually refers such a patient to a long term care facility; a.k.a. nursing home or nursing facility. Here, the patient can obtain occupational and physical therapy, along with 24 hour care and assistance during that time.

Does Medicare Pay for Nursing Home Care in Massachusetts?

The answer to that is no . . . but sometimes. Reflecting on the situation we just described, Medicare doesn't normally cover the type of care received in a nursing home, or "custodial care." Again

Obamacare: The Upcoming Medicare Tax Hike and What to Do About It

jfortenberry@fortenberrylaw.com (Jeramie Fortenberry) — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:45:00 -0400

With the Supreme Court's ruling that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, informally called Obamacare, is constitutional, it will continue into effect in 2013. Among the many provisions of the massive law is a 3.8 percent Medicare surtax on investment income.

While the recent Congressional banter has centered on whether to extend the Bush tax cuts, this Medicare surtax has not been widely discussed. Even if lawmakers extend the Bush tax cuts for 2013 (I think that they will), this new 3.8 percent tax will effectively raise the top tax rate on capital gains and dividends to 18.8 percent. If the Bush tax cuts do expire, the capital

Washington Supreme Court Preempts Employee's Use of Medical Marijuana

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:27:00 -0400

By Karin Jones

Introduction. In a hotly-contested case garnering statewide attention, the Washington Supreme Court confirmed that Washington's Medical Use of Marijuana Act did not obligate an employer to accommodate an employee's use of medical marijuana, even when the employee in a non-safety-sensitive position used medical marijuana exclusively off-site [Roe v. TeleTech Customer Care Management (Colorado) LLC, 171 Wn.2d 736, 257 P.3d 586 (2011) [

More than two years after the passage of New Jersey's Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act ("Act"), patients are now able to register and receive state-issued identification cards to obtain prescriptions for medical marijuana. Formal patient registrations began approximately two weeks ago [Aug. 9th], with the commencement of actual drug disbursements expected to occur this fall.

Florida's Medicaid rules are complicated, and always changing. Just a few weeks ago Medicaid increased its so-called monthly penalty divisor. Now, it's been increased again.. Effective Sept. 1, 2012 Florida Medicaid's penalty divisor increases from $6,880 to $7,362.

What is the penalty divisor? When a person applies for Medicaid benefits for long-term care, Medicaid "looks back" at uncompensated transfers. The lookback period may be either three years or five years, depending on when the transfer was made.

Medicaid then totals up the value of all