Special Needs News

What is known as “HIPPA” was enacted by Congress as the Health Insurance Protection and Portability Act of 1996.  42 USC 1320d-6. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1320d-6  It is designed to protect the confidentialiy of a patient’s medical information. The extensive federal regulations are found at 42 USC part 160....

Many of our clients are transitioning from a status of needing a lot of Medicare coverage to a lot of Medicaid coverage in addition to Medicare.  We all expect Medicare to cover acute medical care needs, skilled care and rehabilitation, while Medicaid could cover the cost of custodial care.  But one important issue is transportation.  If you are on Medicaid, transportation to needed medical...

Palliative care is a specialized team approach to helping a patient to cope with the debilitating symptoms of certain serious complicated illnesses such as parkinsons Disease, heart failure, kidney failure, or COPD. The patient is receiving curative treatment and emergency room care during acute episodes of illness, and can receive dietary support, pain management, grief counselling, massage...

Trusts are prepared with an eye toward longevity. A trust is designed to protect assets for benefit of a  beneficiary, both now and for the future. The Trust will specify who will manage it now (the Trustee) and will typically contain a list of successor trustees who can step in later if necessary, and a mechanism for someone to appoint a successor Trustee if there ever is an unfilled vacancy....

On Thursday, February 19th, I attended the last public meeting for the HCBS Transition plan, which was held from 10 am to 12 pm in New Brunswick.  I had wanted to testify as Chair of the Elder and Disability Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association about how I thought this plan would affect seniors and the physically disabled.  I was #77 on the list–I never got a chance.  The vast...

When the natural parent of a minor child dies, it is necessary for a guardian to be appointed. In New Jersey, the surviving parent has statutory priority to become the guardian. Sometimes there is no other parent. What happens? There is a race to the court house among the next of kin, and then litigation among the competing interested parties, who may be relatives on either side to this child,...

The Special Needs Trust Fairness Act (https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/2123) was introduced in the last Congress and was designed to allow individuals with disabilities to establish a Special Needs Trust for themselves so that they could transfer excess assets into the trust and preserve the assets while also remaining or becoming eligible for crucial benefits under...

Some people who are disabled receive a modest amount of Social Security Disability benefits and also receive Supplemental Security income (SSI). To be eligible for SSI, the total countable income in a given month must not exceed certain amounts that are set annually. If one receives at least a dollar of SSI, s/he can receive Medicaid for health insurance. Effective January 1, 2015, the Social...

“Special Needs Trusts” are a specific type of Trust which is referenced in the Social Security Act at 42 USC 1396p(d)(4)(a) (regarding Medicaid) and at 42 UC 1382b(c)(1)(C)(ii)(III) (regarding Supplemental Security Income . http://www.socialsecurity.gov/ssi/spotlights/spot-trusts.htm These are first-party trusts, also called grantor trusts. They are for the sole benefit of a person...

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...