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 […]
When Long Term Care Insurance Does Not Really Insure Long Term Care
A March 8, 2013 article about long term care insurance in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Can You Afford to Get Older?”, drew a useful distinction between good and bad long term care insurance policies. While noting that “[a] good long-term care policy can cover a significant of [long term care] costs…[a] bad policy could […]
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 […]
Attorney Heffner attends annual National Elder Law Foundation program in Dallas
On January 17th and 18th, Attorney Heffner joined 40 other Certified Elder Law Attorneys (CELAs) from throughout the United States for a two-day program focused on matters faced by elders and their families. “A terrific aspect of this NELF (National Elder Law Foundation) program is that it presents nationally known speakers on not just legal […]
National Aging and Law Institute Conference 2012
This year’s National Aging and Law Institute conference took place November 8-10th in Washington, D.C. Mark Heffner was pleased to attend the conference, which was sponsored by the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). The Institute gave Mark the opportunity to speak directly with the attorneys from the Center for Medicare Advocacy who helped […]
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) […]
Mark Heffner Completes Third Year an Adjunct Law Professor
Mark Heffner recently completed his third consecutive semester of teaching Elder Law, an introductory course he designed for second and third year law students, at Roger Williams University School of Law.
Free Upcoming Alzheimer’s Association Workshop
Mark Heffner is pleased to announce that he will be giving a presentation as part of the Alzheimer’s Association “Getting Started” Series at Atria Assisted Living in Barrington, RI this December. Mark will speak about the techniques for protecting life savings from the ever-increasing costs of nursing home care, and particular opportunities for spouses of […]