How to Reduce Long-Term Care Insurance Costs
While long-term care insurance can be a good way to pay for a nursing home stay or a home health care worker, it doesn’t …
Redo Your Estate Plan Before You Remarry
If you are getting remarried, you obviously want to celebrate, but it is also important to focus on less exciting matters like redoing your …
New Medicaid Law Means Adult Children Could Be on Hook for Parents’ Nursing Home Bills
The adult children of elderly parents in many states could be held liable for their parents’ nursing home bills as a result of the …
2008 Long-Term Care Insurance Price Index Announced
A 55-year-old individual considering long-term care insurance protection can expect to pay $709 a year if married or $1,095 if single, according to the …
Coming Soon: Five-Star Rating System for Nursing Homes
You can eat at a five-star restaurant or stay at a five-star hotel. By year’s end, you’ll also be able to select a five-star …
New Washington State Law Treats Domestic Partners As Married Couples for Purposes of Estate Recovery
On March 12, 2008, Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law House Bill 3104, extending 170 legal rights and responsibilities to couples in …
Federal Nursing Home Site Now Notes Troubled Facilities
The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that its Web site comparing nursing homes will now identify facilities that are …
Married Couples for Purposes of Estate Recovery
On March 12, 2008, Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law House Bill 3104, extending 170 legal rights and responsibilities to couples in …
Taking a Second Look If You Elected Early Social Security Benefits
Did you elect to take Social Security benefits before your full retirement age? If you did and are now looking for extra income, there …
Ohio Appeals Court Determines That Resources in Trust Are Countable
An Ohio appeals court rules that assets held in an irrevocable trust are available to a Medicaid applicant because the trustee has the discretion …
Identifying and Dealing With Financial Abuse of the Elderly
It is not uncommon for the elderly to become victims of financial abuse. They may be losing — or already have lost — some …
Cost of Long-Term Care Continues to Rise, 2008 Survey Finds
Costs for nursing homes, assisted living facilities and some in-home care services have risen for the fifth consecutive year and might continue to rise …
Protecting Your House After You Move Into a Nursing Home
While you generally do not have to sell your home in order to qualify for Medicaid coverage of nursing home care, it is possible …
Genworth: LTC Costs Continue To Rise
The average annual price of a private U.S. nursing home room has increased to $76,460 this year, up 2% from the 2007 average. Researchers …
Long Term Care Insurance Under the DRA
The general goal of Medicaid under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) is to restrict the access of middle-class taxpayers to state medical …
Is Your Memory Normal? Part II
Use It or Lose It; Ways to Cope With Memory Loss No matter how “normal” memory lapses may be, let’s face it, that doesn’t …
Is Your Memory Normal? Part I
Before you diagnose yourself with Alzheimer’s disease, take heart: Experts say some memory lapses are actually normal. They say that memory is the second …
Senate Chooses Middle Road on Estate Taxes
Members of the Senate indicated that they want to reduce estate taxes without eliminating estate taxes. Senators delivered that message through votes on a …
VA Announces $4.7 Million to Help Caregivers Department Enhancing Education, Training and Resources
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced it will provide nearly $4.7 million for “caregiver assistance pilot programs” to expand and improve health …
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established pension plans, health …
Gross Valuation Misstatement Penalties Can Apply to Estate and Gift Appraisals
In a recent legal memorandum, the IRS stated that it can assess, under IRC Sec. 6695A, a gross valuation misstatement penalty against an appraiser …
Special Needs Trusts to Protect Personal Injury Settlements
By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq., NJ Special Needs Trust Attorney Personal injury attorneys should avoid receiving payment from the defendant or the defendant’s insurer …
10 Million Boomers Will Develop Alzheimer’s, Report Predicts
Alzheimer’s disease will strike one in eight U.S. baby boomers, meaning that 10 million boomers will develop the mind-wasting disease, according to a new …
Use of Nursing Home Restraints Has Declined
A report by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality shows that the use of restraints in nursing homes has declined 40 percent …
New Tax Break Helps Surviving Spouses
Widows and widowers who don’t want to sell their house right away will get a tax break under a new law. The law gives …
Report Says That VA’s Disability Benefit System Needs Major Overhaul
The Department of Veterans Affairs should overhaul its outdated system of compensating former military personnel for disabling injuries they suffered during their service, the …