VA Publishes New Compensation Benefits Rate After .3% COLA Increase
In October 2016, the DVA announced that a .3% increase in DVA benefits rates for 2016-2017. This increase is a reflection of the cost-of-living adjustment for this fiscal year based upon the Consumer Price Index.
Last week the DVA updated its website to reflect this increase and the new compensation benefits chart can be found at the link below:
New Compensation Benefits Rates Chart
CMS Rule banning arbitration clauses is blocked for now
A few months ago we wrote about a new rule issued by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that banned pre-litigation mandatory arbitration clauses in the admission contracts of nursing homes that receive federal Medicaid or Medicare dollars. A group of five organizations filed suit in federal district court in Mississippi, asking that the regulation be invalidated on the basis...
Person under Guardianship still has the right to vote
When a Court enters an order in a guardianship action that finds a person to be “incapacitated,” the Court is required in New Jersey to consider the functional areas in which the person needs or does not need a surrogate decision-maker, and must fashion the least restrictive arrangement that is consistent with the individual’s best interests. The Court can structure the...
Going from ACA Medicaid to “Regular” Medicaid Can Be a High Wire Act Without Legal Assistance
New Jersey has a lot of roads to eligibility for Medicaid, and that’s a good thing. All of those roads are called NJ FamilyCare, and that’s a confusing thing.
Medicaid in New Jersey is provided by five Managed Care Organizations (MCO) now through NJ FamilyCare. You must choose one to get services, including long-term services and supports (LTSS), which will be coordinated by the...
Homemade Powers of Attorney can create expensive legal problems
I ran into a situation recently that I thought I’d share with my readers since it’s the type of thing that happens over and over again. The Elder person is living in New Jersey but owns real estate in another state that needs to be listed or sold because he is applying for Medicaid to pay for his nursing home. The person has Alzheimers Disease and no longer has capacity to sign...
Medicaid penalty imposed when life tenant received no proceeds of the home sale
A “life estate” in property is an interest that has a quantifiable value. If ownership of property can be thought of as giving the owner a “bundle of rights,” the life estate is a partial ownership of that bundle. For instance, the owner of property has the right to sell it, improve it, demolish it, rent it, give away a partial interest, and reside in it. The life...
Concurrent Title 38 Disability Compensation and DoD Retirement Benefits for Retirees
A few days ago, I was speaking at an assisted living care facility regarding Title 38 benefits (Department of Veterans Affairs). These discussions usually involve the adult children of World War II and Korean War veterans so they can have a basic understanding of what benefits their mother/father may be entitled to through the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). The elderly spouse of a...
What if the Medicaid home care services aren’t provided? part II
Previously I blogged about the problems faced by Medicaid-eligible people living in home and community-based settings when there isn’t a sufficient provider network to provide the services needed to maintain them in their residences, or there is substantial delay in getting the services started. The issue is that the government is obligated to provide the services in the...
Veterans Affairs Extends Presumption Period for Persian Gulf War Veterans to December 31, 2021
Beginning in 1994, Congress implemented a statutory provision, 38 U.S.C. 1117, for a presumption of service connection for undiagnosed chronic multi-symptom illnesses for veterans who served in the Southwest Area theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War. Because the Persian Gulf War is still considered a statutorily defined period of war, 38 U.S.C. 1117 applies to more recent...
The NJ Estate tax may be going away, but you can still do important planning with a Will
On October 14th, Governor Christie signed a tax package into law which does away with the New Jersey estate tax and certain income taxes in exchange for a 23 cent per gallon increase in the gasoline tax so that the roads and bridges can be repaired. There’s still no estate tax on any assets that pass at death to your spouse. At the present time, the estate tax exclusion is only...