NJ 2017-18 Budget Adds Funding for Medicaid Long-Term Care
After the Governor and the Assembly leader resolved their Fourth of July Weekend Budget Kerfuffle, some positivity came out of it for Medicaid long-term care providers and beneficiaries.
Nursing home reimbursements would be increased by $10.5 million, shifting funds from Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS). This would be $5.25 million of state funds with an identical federal match....
Navigating the Coordination of Medicaid benefits with other benefits
Generally speaking, the Medicaid program is the payor of last resort. If an individual is eligible for Medicare as his or her primary health insurance, Medicare would be the primary payor for medical needs, and Medicaid would become the secondary payor for any remainder. If an individual maintains a “medi-gap” insurance policy, that policy would be secondary and Medicaid would be...
Please! Set up that QIT before filing the Medicaid application!
“What on earth is a QIT?” Under the New Jersey Medicaid program, there are some extra hoops to jump through when the applicant’s gross monthly income from all sources exceeds $2,205.00. This number is colloquially referred to as the “income cap,” and up until late 2014, it created a hard barrier to eligibility for home and community-based Medicaid services for...
Estate Recovery and Medicaid Liens
“If I go into a nursing home, will the State take my house?” This is a commonly-asked question. The answer is “No, but …” If a person applies for long-term care Medicaid benefits, his available assets have to be below a certain level. The house he owns generally has to be listed for sale (called a “Plan of Liquidation”), but this requirement is waived...
Upcoming Live Seminar: Protecting Assets While Qualifying for Medicaid
Lauren Marinaro will present at an upcoming National Business Institute live seminar: Protecting Assets While Qualifying for Medicaid
Date: Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Time: 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Location:
Molly Pitcher Inn
88 Riverside Ave
Red Bank, NJ 07701
For more information or to register, please visit:
http://www.nbi-sems.com/Details.aspx/R-76376ER%7C?ctname=SPKEM
Estate plan can include designation of funeral arranger
There can be times that a dispute will break out among the members of a deceased person’s family on the subject of where and how to dispose of the body. Burial or cremation? This cemetery or that cemetery? Next to the first spouse (parent of the children) or next to the most recent spouse? And so on. New Jersey has a statute that actually deals quite directly with that problem....
More formality may be better with intergenerational households
As elder law attorneys, our clients have presented us with many difficult situations involving adult children or grandchildren who live in their houses. Sometimes a child has run into some hard times and sees the parent’s home as an economical option; the child may move into his parent’s house along with his spouse and children. Sometimes the child just never became self-sufficient...
There’s no “income cap” anymore for Medicaid long term benefits
When I first started filing Medicaid applications for my clients back in 1995, a person who needed long-term care services in the home or assisted living but had run out of money could not even apply for Medicaid if their gross monthly income was higher than the “income cap.” Of course, the income cap was well below the amount that was needed to pay for care, which meant that a lot...
Feeding the Patient is Part of the Plan of Care
What can you do if your loved one can’t feed himself but the nursing home staff just keep leaving the tray on his table? The Nursing Home Reform Act Residents’ Rights 42 CFR Ä 483 requires that provision of adequate nutrition be part of the services provided to all nursing home residents. The facility must provide adequate services to “attain or maintain the highest...
Don’t count on the Medicaid representative at the County Board to remind you to Spend Down
An application for Medicaid benefits cannot be approved before the applicant (and spouse, if any) has completed the spend-down, because benefits are not payable unless the applicant is financially eligible. It is not uncommon for someone to initiate an application for Medicaid without having any idea whether they are eligible or not. The nursing home may start the process; a nonattorney...