Our firm’s principal, Mark B. Heffner, Esq., will present later today (March 6, 2019) at the fourth meeting of the Rhode Island Special Task Force to Study Elderly Abuse and Financial Exploitation. Attorney Heffner, who is also a sitting member of the task force, served for ten years as a member of the Rhode Island […]
Category: Nursing Homes
“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 […]
Announcing the Long Term Care Planning Blog
Counseling clients facing the prospect of $10,000 per month nursing home costs and other costs of long term care is perhaps the most challenging aspect of the practice of Elder Law. For in addition to knowing substantive law in areas ranging from public benefits to tax planning, the Elder Law practitioner must be aware of […]
CMS Updates Medicare Policy Manuals for Skilled Nursing Services
In a previous blog post, I alerted you to the settlement of a federal lawsuit entitled Jimmo v. Sebellius, in which the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) denied that there ever existed a so-called “improvement standard” for the coverage of nursing home under Medicare. Rather, CMS agreed that such coverage would be determined […]
A Nursing Home Myth Exploded: Medicare Can Pay Even After A Resident “Plateaus”
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 […]
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 […]