When it comes to COVID-19, there is so much that feels beyond our control. With estate planning (wills or trusts and more), there are things that you CAN control. Here is a list of things you can do (from an estate planning perspective) that may help you feel a little more in control: #1 During this COVID-19 crisis, who are your emergency health care decision makers? Talk to your loved ones about your wishes regarding your medical care. First, who would you want to step up to advocate for you during a health care crisis? The two parts of Health Care Directives are the Designation of Health Care Surrogate and Living Will. With the Designation of Health Care Surrogate, you nominate someone you trust to make health care decisions for you in the event that you are unable to communicate those decisions yourself. With a Living Will, you can include directions regarding end of life decisions, as well as other decisions about your care and treatment. #2 Look for your HIPAA Authorization. Your Health Care Directives should also include a HIPAA Authorization. HIPAA Authorization language follows the requirements Health Insurance…Read More
How can we help seniors manage their finances? With these tips, seniors can manage their finances better. And if they ever need help, they can shift their financial management to someone they can trust. 1. Use direct deposit. First, use direct deposit for income form pensions, annuities, and Social Security benefits. Not only will this save a trip to the bank, it also avoids the risk of a paper check being stolen, lost, or forgotten. 2. Consolidate retirement accounts. Consolidating retirement accounts into fewer accounts may make it easier to evaluate and manage savings, as well as to take any minimum distributions that are required. Also, when moving money between retirement accounts, it’s a good idea to use a trustee-to-trustee transfer rather than moving the money yourself. 3. Consolidate financial accounts. It can be a lot easier to manage your money when you have your money in fewer accounts at one bank. But make sure to consider the FDIC insurance limits on money held at one institution before consolidating. 4. Pay bills automatically. For recurring bills, have the biller automatically deduct payments from a credit card or bank account each…Read More
Medicaid is the government’s long-term care insurance for seniors and the disabled. There are income and asset eligibility requirements that must be met in order to qualify. One big issue is the transfer of assets. In order to be eligible for Medicaid, you cannot have recently transferred assets. Congress does not want you to move into a nursing home on Monday, give all your money to your children (or whomever) on Tuesday, and qualify for Medicaid on Wednesday. So it has imposed a penalty on people who transfer assets without receiving fair value in return. This penalty is a period of time during which the person transferring the assets will be ineligible for Medicaid. The penalty period is determined by dividing the amount transferred by what Medicaid determines to be the average private pay cost of a nursing home in your state. Example: If you live in a state where the average monthly cost of care costs $5,000, and you give away property worth $100,000, you will be ineligible for benefits for 20 months ($100,000 / $5,000 = 20). Another way to look at the above example is that for…Read More
Medicare covers preventative care services, including an annual wellness visit. But confusing a wellness visit with a physical could be very expensive. As part of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare beneficiaries receive a free annual wellness visit. At this visit, your doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant will generally do the following: Ask you to fill out a health risk assessment questionnaire Update your medical history and current prescriptions Measure your height, weight, blood pressure and body mass index Provide personalized health advice Create a screening schedule for the next 5 to 10 years Screen for cognitive issues You do not have to pay a deductible for this visit. You may also receive other free preventative services, such as a flu shot. The confusion arises when a Medicare beneficiary requests an “annual physical” instead of an “annual wellness visit.” During a physical, a doctor may do other tests that are outside of an annual wellness visit, such as check vital signs, perform lung or abdominal exams, test your reflexes, or order urine and blood samples. These services are not offered for free and Medicare beneficiaries will have to pay co-pays…Read More
The number of older Americans with student loan debt – either theirs or someone else’s — is growing. Sadly, learning how to deal with this debt is now a fact of life for many seniors heading into retirement. According to by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the number of older borrowers increased by at least 20 percent between 2012 and 2017. Some of these borrowers were borrowing for themselves, but the majority was borrowing for others. The study found that 73 percent of student loan borrowers age 60 and older borrowed for a child’s or grandchild’s education. Before You Co-sign A Student Loan For A Child Or Grandchild, You Need To Understand Your Obligations The co-signer not only vouches for the loan recipient’s ability to pay back the loan, but is also personally responsible for repaying the loan if the recipient cannot pay. Because of this, you need to carefully consider the risk before taking on this responsibility. In some circumstances, it is possible to obtain a co-signer release from a loan after the loan recipient has made a few on-time payments. If you are a co-signer on a loan…Read More
Paying for day care is one of the biggest expenses faced by working adults with young children, a dependent parent, or a child with a disability. But there is a tax credit available to help working caregivers defray the costs of day care (for seniors it’s called “adult day care”). In Order To Qualify For The Tax Credit, You Must Have A Dependent Who Cannot Be Left Alone And Who Has Lived With You For More Than Half The Year Qualifying dependents may be the following: A child who is under age 13 when the care is provided A spouse who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care An individual who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care and either is your dependent or could have been your dependent except that his or her income is too high ($4,150 or more) or he or she files a joint return. Even Though You Can No Longer Receive A Deduction For Claiming A Parent (Or Child) As A Dependent, You Can Still Receive This Tax Credit If Your Parent (Or Other Relative) Qualifies As A Dependent This means you must provide more…Read More
A California daughter and granddaughter’s fear of losing their home to Medicaid may have contributed to a severe case of elder abuse. If They Had Consulted With An Elder Law Attorney, They Might Have Figured Out A Way To Get Their Mother The Care She Needed And Also Protect Their House Amanda Havens was sentenced to 17 years in prison for elder abuse after her grandmother, Dorothy Havens, was found neglected, with bedsores and open wounds, in the home they shared. The grandmother died the day after being discovered by authorities. Amanda’s mother, Kathryn Havens, who also lived with Dorothy, is awaiting trial for second-degree murder. According to an article in the Record Searchlight, a local publication, Amanda and Kathryn knew Dorothy needed full-time care, but they did not apply for Medicaid on her behalf due to a fear that Medicaid would “take” the house. It Is A Common Misconception That The State Will Immediately Take A Medicaid Recipient’s Home Nursing home residents do not automatically have to sell their homes in order to qualify for Medicaid. In some states, the home will not be considered a countable asset for Medicaid…Read More
Although A Nursing Home Cannot Require A Child To Be Personally Liable For Their Parent’s Nursing Home Bill, There Are Circumstances In Which Children Can End Up Having To Pay This is a major reason why it is important to read any admission agreements carefully before signing. Federal regulations prevent a nursing home from requiring a third party to be personally liable as a condition of admission. However, children of nursing home residents often sign the nursing home admission agreement as the “responsible party.” This is a confusing term and it isn’t always clear from the contract what it means. Typically, The Responsible Party Is Agreeing To Do Everything In His Or Her Power To Make Sure That The Resident Pays The Nursing Home From The Resident’s Funds If the resident runs out of funds, the responsible party may be required to apply for Medicaid on the resident’s behalf. If the responsible party doesn’t follow through on applying for Medicaid or provide the state with all the information needed to determine Medicaid eligibility, the nursing home may sue the responsible party for breach of contract. In addition, if a responsible…Read More
A new report that combines nursing home quality data with a survey of family members ranks the best and worst states for care and paints a picture of how Americans view nursing homes. The website Care.com analyzed Medicare’s nursing home ratings to identify the states with the best and worst overall nursing home quality ratings. Using Medicare’s five-star nursing home rating system, Care.com found that Hawaii nursing homes had the highest overall average ratings (3.93), followed by the District of Columbia (3.89), Florida (3.75), and New Jersey (3.75). The state with the lowest average rating was Texas (2.68), followed by Oklahoma (2.76), Louisiana (2.80), and Kentucky (2.98). Care.com also surveyed 978 people who have family members in a nursing home to determine their impressions about nursing homes. The surveyors found that the family members visited their loved ones in a nursing home an average six times a month, and more than half of those surveyed felt that they did not visit enough. Those who thought they visited enough visited an average of nine times a month. In addition, a little over half felt somewhat to extremely guilty about their loved…Read More
Caring for a sick family member is difficult work, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be unpaid work. There are programs available that allow Medicaid recipients to hire family members as caregivers. All 50 States Have Programs That Provide Pay To Family Caregivers. The Programs Vary By State, But Are Generally Available To Medicaid Recipients, Although There Are Also Some Non-Medicaid-Related Programs Medicaid’s program began as “cash and counseling,” but is now often called “self-directed,” “consumer-directed,” or “participant-directed” care. The first step is to apply for Medicaid through a home-based Medicaid program. Medicaid is available only to low-income seniors, and each state has different eligibility requirements. Medicaid application approval can take months, and there also may be a waiting list to receive benefits under the program. The state Medicaid agency usually conducts an assessment to determine the recipient’s care needs—e.g., how much help the Medicaid recipient needs with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, eating, and moving. Once the assessment is complete, the state draws up a budget, and the recipient can use the allotted funds to pay for goods or services related to care, including paying a…Read More
