Author: Linda Ershow-Levenberg

I received the attached video links from an elder lawyer colleague in Massachusetts . These are two videos designed to raise the awareness of Outpatient Status under Medicare and the Improvement Standard for patients and their advocates. The situations arise when a patient who is a Medicare beneficiary requires skilled therapy following a hospitalization. Historically, therapy would be stopped...

The Medicaid program for long-term care was created by Congress decades ago and is administered by the States and their myriad separate counties. Did you know that there are at least 11 bodies of law that interpret this  byzantine program? From top to bottom we have the Federal Medicaid statutes (42 USC 1396); the Social Security statutes pertaining to the SSI program (42 USC 1382); SSI...

You’re 55 to 70 and your kids are all over 21 and starting to find their way in the world. It’s been 20 years since you last made an estate plan, and that may have only been a Will. Sounds familiar? I see these situations all the time. There can be loads of issues for baby boomers  to think about as you bring your estate plan in sync with your real life circumstances: (1) NJ...

If you are no longer able to work due to severe, medically-documented physical or mental conditions, you may be thinking about filing a claim for Title II Social Security Disability benefits. You need to be prepared for a long, slow process. It can easily take three years from start to finish. First of all, you generally do not file your claim until after you have stopped working full time and...

When it comes to designing an estate plan there is no “one size fits all” because each family is unique. You may have a young adult child with profound disabilities who will never be self sufficient and will require extensive support. Or you may have a child who is developing a certain degree of independence with work activity or ability to live outside your home despite their...

This year, the IRS  adopted final regulations which allow an IRA or 401K account holder to direct 25% of the qualified funds into a new structure called a Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract (QLAC). This is a deferred-income annuity contract purchased from an insurance company with qualified funds. The portion of qualified assets used to purchase the QLAC will not be subject to the Required...

I recently came across information about special programs events that may be of interest to you if you are caring for or assisting a family member who has special needs. The events took place in November in the greater Essex-Morris-Union county areas but they are the beginning of what will be many programs on these issues that will be run through the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest....

http://medicaid.gov/medicaid-chip-program-information/by-topics/eligibility/downloads/2015-ssi-and-spousal-impoverishment-standards.pdf Starting January 1, 2015, the Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA) for the community spouse of a married Medicaid applicant is being raised to $119,220 from $117,240.00.  This is the amount of countable available resources that the community spouse can...

If the State Medicaid program cuts your hours of service, appeal, appeal, appeal. NJ Medicaid  administers certain of its home care services through a program called the Personal Preference Program. The number of allocated hours of service is decided by the Division of Medial Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS). Personal Care Assistant (PCA) services are provided to the participant at a set...

Tuesday evening I was privileged to participate in a lively panel at the JCC in Scotch Plains that was answering  questions on a wide range of elder care/ elder law issues. The panelists were terrific — Michele Morandi, D.O., geriatric physician based in Union and affiliated with Center for Hope Hospice https://centerforhope.com/ ; Chris Kaiser, MSW, LCSW, Director of the Older Adult...