Supported Decision-Making as an Alternative to Guardianship
Back on May 29-30 I participated in the 3rd World Congress on Adult Guardianship in Arlington VA and followed up with blog posts about alternative approaches to guardianship around the world. Supported Decision-Making is a concept that is gaining traction in many places and certainly deserves careful consideration here in New Jersey. It’s more complicated than merely entering an...
NJ Medicaid MLTSS Feedback Forums scheduled in October
You know by now that the New Jersey Department of Human Services has been developing a new Medicaid Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) program under its 2013 Comprehensive Medicaid Waiver. It’s still a work-in-progress. This program affects all elderly and disabled Medicaid applicants and Medicaid recipients who need long-term care Medicaid services outside of nursing homes. Three...
NJ Medicaid issues Guidance on new Qualified Income Trusts
I previously posted about the upcoming changes to the New Jersey Medicaid programs that pay for nursing home care and home and community-based services (HCBS) for people whose gross monthly income exceeds $2,163. This amount was formerly called the “income cap,” and people in that group could only receive Medicaid benefits in nursing homes. That was under the “Medically...
NJ’s SACCONE case allows use of Special Needs Trusts for PFRS Beneficiary
The New Jersey Supreme Court has issued a decision that will be very helpful to disabled children of retired NJ police and firefighters, called Saccone v Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (9/11/2014), http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nj-supreme-court/1677772.html Under the rules for the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS), upon the death of a...
Coordinating Home Care for the Frail Aged takes Persistence
It is axiomatic that aged individuals would prefer to remain in the comfort of their familiar surroundings rather than finish their lives in an institutional setting. This is the case whether the person lives in a mansion or a little apartment, in a house with their beloved front porch or a home with their comforting tiny living room or sunny little back yard. Federal initiatives exist that...
RSVP Senior Volunteer Program is up and running again in Essex and Hudson Counties
The Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) was started in the 1970’s as a program of the federal government that was administered by local non-profit organizations all over the USA to provide a way for retired people to continue to use their vast knowledge and skills to benefit others. In fact both my grandfather and my uncle — retired printers from Barton Press Inc. of Newark and...
Social Security Administration returns to mailing of benefit statements
In 2000, the Social Security Administration began mailing annual benefit statements to all workers age 25 and up. The benefit statements show the posted earnings history and the retirement and disability benefits available to the worker and his or her dependents. Individuals unable to continue working due to disability and individuals thinking of retiring could easily see their potential...
Special Needs Trusts play Vital Role for SSI & Medicaid Recipients
A person with disabilities who is incapable of engaging in substantial gainful activity for self-support in the competititve workplace may be receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and the Medicaid benefits for health care that accompany the SSI. http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/dmahs/clients/medicaid/abd/index.html The person may reside in the community, in an assisted living...
Patients’ Home Caregiver Training Bill Pending in NJ
People who are responsible for the care of frail elderly relatives may be interested in a bill that has just passed the NJ Assembly and is headed to the state Senate for consideration. The bill is A2955. http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2014/Bills/A3000/2955_R1.HTMA2955
The bill is designed to improve discharge planning for patients returning to their homes, and to decrease the frequency of...
National Panel Encourages Greater Use of Palliative Care at End of Life
Today it was reported that a nonpartisan 21-member committee appointed by the federal Institute of Medicine, which is the independent research arm of the National Academy of Sciences, has issued the results of its investigation into the way the United States’ health care system including Medicare deal with the delivery of treatment at end of life. Their 507-page report is called “Dying...