Attorney Mark Heffner was pleased to present at today’s Alzheimer’s Foundation of America free virtual educational conference, Educating America Tour 2021, helping to connect Rhode Island residents with information about Alzheimer’s disease. The AFA’s Educating America tour is a nation-wide educational initiative connecting communities with information about Alzheimer’s disease, brain health, caregiving, and more. Participants […]
Author Archives: Mark Heffner
Presentation Slides for Providence Retired Teachers Association
On October 24th, I was pleased to present to a meeting of the Providence Retired Teachers Association (PRTA), a program entitled Estate and Medicaid Planning. As promised, posted below are the slides from the presentation. This presentation was the sixth time—the first being in 2003–that I have been privileged to present to the PRTA. As […]
“Navigating Mom’s Final Years” Recap: Tools for Supporting Aging Loved Ones
I was delighted and privileged to serve as a panelist on a seminar sponsored by The Catholic Foundation of Rhode Island on October 4th entitled Navigating Mom’s Final Years. Expertly organized by Andrea Krupp, Esq. of the Catholic Foundation, the fact pattern presented was honed by my fellow panelist Betsey Purinton, CFP of StrategicPoint. The […]
Attorney Heffner Testifies Before House Finance Committee on Governor’s Medicaid Budget
On March 15th, I testified before the Finance Committee of Rhode Island House of Representative on the Governor’s proposed 2018-2019 budget. I specifically wished to alert the members of the Finance Committee to provisions contained in Articles 13 and 14 of the proposed which would enable the Rhode Island Office of Health and Human Services […]
The Lady-Bird deed flies away, not to be missed by most Medicaid planning clients.
In the all the breathless hype over the past weeks regarding the demise of enhanced life estate—or so-called “Lady Bird”—deeds was lost a critical fact—that this technique was rarely the best option in Medicaid planning anyway. First, the story known to some readers. After an unsuccessful attempt last year, this year the State agency which […]
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 […]