Elder Law News

Lauren Marinaro has been selected for a two year term as National Board Member for the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) for 2020-2022.  NAELA  is a national membership organization for attorneys that keeps its members informed and up-to-date on fast-breaking changes in the law — legislation, agency rules and court decisions — that would affect seniors and people with...

The Arkansas Supreme Court has just sustained a decision by the state Department of Human Services denying Medicaid eligibility due to excess resources. In this case, the Medicaid applicant had transferred her house and other assets into an irrevocable trust that gave the trustee discretion to expend trust funds for her own benefit. She applied for Medicaid more than 5 years after making the...

New Jersey FamilyCare’s Medicaid program has many components that serve different population groups of people who are aged, disabled or poor. Did you know that there is a Medical Assistance Advisory Committee (MACC) which meets regularly and is required to hold quarterly public forums? On February 5th, along with other members of New Jersey NAELA, I attended the first MAAC (Medical...

This has been a busy year for the elder law attorneys at our Firm in the realm of community education. We’ve been teaching at programs run by the NJ Institute for Continuing Legal Education almost every month. Among the topics of Linda and Lauren’s lectures were Representing Clients in Medicaid Fair Hearings at the Office of Administrative Law; Getting the Most out of...

Test your knowledge about nursing homes and the Medicaid-MLTSS program that pays for nursing home care, assisted living and part-time home care. Does a person’s monthly income have to be less than $2,313 (2,349 in 2020) to apply for Medicaid-MLTSS? Will the State take one-half the house if a married person moves into a nursing home? Does a married person have to sign over or pay...

The NJ Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS) has just released Medicaid Communication #20-01 which provides the new numbers that are relevant to applications for Medicaid Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) benefits.   20-01_Medicaid_Only_Standards         MLTSS pays for nursing home care (skilled nursing facilities), Assisted Living Facilities and part-time home care...

New Jersey has a state-level Long-Term Care Ombudsman (LTCO), previously known as the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly whose mission is to protect the rights of individuals who reside in facility settings which are nursing homes (skilled nursing facilities), assisted living facilities, group homes and continuing care retirement communities. Each of these facilities is highly...

Earlier this year I wrote about problems that are cropping up for Medicaid applicants who purchased irrevocable funeral trusts. The problem is that certain County Boards of Social Services were/are counting some of the dollars in the irrevocable funeral trust as if they are available resources (assets). The theory was that the items are ‘for the living,” and not “for the...

A long-term client of mine called to tell me that he had just learned that he had a terminal illness – it was a medical problem that appeared suddenly appeared. He was about 70 and his wife about the same. Their children were self-supporting adults, out of the house. Both he and his wife were retired – he was collecting Social Security and a pension. He had always handled the...

If you purchased a long-term care insurance policy, (LTCI) make sure you keep that contract and the annual update notices in a safe, accessible  place and that you let your important persons know where they can find these papers. When it comes time that hands-on care, supervision and cueing are required, it will be necessary to scrutinize the contract to see just what conditions must be met to...