The typical scenario goes like this. Dad is living alone at home, suffering from Alzheimer’s or a related dementia. He falls and fractures a hip. With Daughter’s help, he is admitted to a hospital for three or more days. Dad is then discharged to a nursing home, specifically into its skilled “rehabilitation unit.” No one […]
Category: Medicaid & Medicare
Case Study: How an Irrevocable Trust Protects Assets from Nursing Home Costs
Last week I met with “Jennifer”, whose mother “Sally”, a long-time client of our office, had entered a nursing home several years ago. (Their names have been changed.) Two months ago, Sally died. Though always a sad occasion when a parent passes away, I told Jennifer that she should take comfort in knowing that she […]
Empowering Seniors To Take Control
The Johnston Senior Center recently teamed up with the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) to host an information session aimed at empowering seniors to take control of their health care, through information and tools to protect them against Medicare fraud. According to the Johnston Sun Rise, the event “aimed to give Medicare recipients […]
RI Researcher Finds Only 1 in 3 Medicare Patients Die At Home
New research shows that one in three elderly Americans on Medicare passes away at home. This is not encouraging news, given that most seniors would prefer to die at home or the home of a loved one. But there is a positive development: the number of Medicare patients who died in hospital decreased from 32.6 […]
Rhode Island Strengthens Collection Efforts in Its Estate Recovery Program
New regulations regarding the estates of deceased Medicaid recipients make it even more important that clients do advance planning in order to minimize the impact of such estate recovery on their estate plans. In an effort to strengthen collection efforts in its “estate recovery” program, the Rhode Island Office of Health and Human Services (OHHS) […]
Nursing Home Residents May Be Able to Retain Skilled Services Medicaid Benefits
As a result of a proposed settlement agreement reached in litigation, there appears to be clarification of the “improvement standard” as a prerequisite to a nursing home resident continuing to receive Medicare skilled nursing home benefits. Once implemented, this will enable nursing home residents who have been discharged from a hospital and told that they […]