How Not to Lose Medicaid (Part 5)
In last week’s post I explained that when the non-Medicaid spouse dies, the Medicaid spouse must receive at least a minimum amount of assets from the deceased spouse. This is known as the elective share and in New Jersey is determined to be 1/3 of the deceased spouse’s estate less what
The Imperfect Medicaid Approval – Part 2
In my post last week, I wrote about a trend we are seeing with our Medicaid applications - with every approval we get there almost always is something incorrect about the decision. Last week I told you that some of the mistakes can be easily corrected. Others, however, require that we file
The Imperfect Medicaid Approval -Part 1
In this week’s blog post I return to the topic of Medicaid. As I often tell people these days, Medicaid application are more challenging than they have ever been. But even after we get our cases approved, rarely is there an instance in which the approval is a perfect one. There almost
Proposed Financial Elder Abuse Legislation – Part 3
The subject of my last two posts has been a proposed piece of legislation introduced by 2 New Jersey legislators in response to a couple of cases reported upon in the media in which seniors were moved into long term care facilities and their asset taken from them by individuals
Signing an Admissions Agreement on Behalf of Another (Part 4)
In last week’s post I distinguished the terms “personal guarantor” and “responsible party” which are found in most long term care facility contracts. This week I’ll explain why they are so important, in light of the increasing difficulty in obtaining Medicaid benefits under the government programs that cover long term care
Signing an Admissions Agreement on Behalf of Another (Part 2)
Signing an Admissions Agreement on Behalf of Another (Part 2) In my blog post last week, I talked about the importance of knowing what is in a long term care facility admissions agreement before you sign it. Because the resident being admitted is usually unable to handle his or her affairs,
Nursing Home or Assisted Living (Part 1)
I’ve written a number of blog posts over the years about the failure to recognize the the differences between nursing homes and assisted living facilities. A number of recent cases in our office highlight the point and the mistakes that can be made, specifically with regard to the impact on
Recent Trends in Medicaid
I have always said that the desire to quickly file a Medicaid application should be tempered by the ability to provide the documentation that is required for an application to be successful. The State is now scrutinizing every single transaction in and out of every single account that existed in
Increase in Medicaid Divisor
As I have written about frequently in this blog, when applying for Medicaid an applicant must establish by documentary evidence that he or she did not transfer assets in the 5 year period directly before the requested start date for benefits. Any transfers made for which product or service of equal value
Estate Administration to Pursue Legal Claims – Part 3
In last week’s blog post I talked about a call from an attorney who needed help. He was handling a wrongful death claim on behalf of the children of a father who had died of injuries suffered in a car accident. I was able to get the son appointed administrator ad prosequendum