Blog: News & Insights

When an individual moves into a nursing home for long-term care, there are an array of admissions documents that get signed. These include everything from personal preferences information to insurance and financial disclosures, medical releases, selection of physicians etc. One of these documents contains the contract for payment for the services being rendered. Typically, the contract...

Recently, the VA announced an interim rule (effective August 4, 2014), and proposed final rule, which incorporates the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria into Title 38.  More information about the changes can be found at...

I recently had the occasion to make a house call to meet with a client who had stopped working about 4 years ago in his early 50’s. He became gravely, permanently  ill and eventually needed to apply for Social Security Disability benefits, which were approved. He had to endure the two-year wait until he could receive Medicare. As he got caught up in the throes of his illness, with...

As you begin making your plans for retirement, don’t neglect to prepare or update your estate plan. Your plan may be decades-old, or maybe you never even signed any documents for a plan. It’s a good idea to start thinking about a variety of issues at this time. Here are some of them. It’s important to sign  a Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care proxy to designate the...

As the linked Asbury Park Press article documents, the James J. Howard Veterans Clinic will open a supplemental location (1688 Route 88, Brick, New Jersey) next month.  Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System (VANJHCS) spokeswoman, Sandra Warren, explains the new location will house physical therapy, prosthetics, optometry, and — significantly from my perspective — a shuttle...

If you are an active employee who is starting to think about retirement, make sure you check the terms of your employer health insurance plan to see how it would fit with Medicare.  Medicare health care coverage isn’t available to you until you reach age 65.  There is an Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) which begins 3 months before your 65th birthday, includes the month you turn 65, and...

Do you have an emerging young adult in your family who is not under a guardianship?  After their 18th birthday, you may want to consider having them meet with an attorney to discuss a durable power of attorney, health care proxy and a Will. People often say, “why do I need a Will?” or “isn’t estate planning for wealthy people?” The fact is that basic estate...

On May 28, 2014 the NJ tax Court  decided the case of Claudette Lugano v NJ Division of Taxation.http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nj-tax-court/1668800.html . Ms. Lugano and the decedent, Mr. Lovi, had neither married nor registered as domestic partners, and inheritance tax was imposed on her receipt of his retirement plan benefits upon his death. The Court held, among other things, that the failure...

Previously, we blogged about the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) en banc per curiam opinion in Pacheco v. Gibson.  There were multiple concurring and dissenting opinions which are worth reviewing and, frankly, by my math the concurring in part and dissenting in part opinion authored by Chief Judge Kasold (joined by Judges Hagel, Moorman, and Lance) would be considered the plurality...

“The work of a judge is in one sense enduring and in another ephemeral. . . .   In the endless process of testing and retesting, there is a constant rejection of the dross and a constant retention of whatever is pure and sound and fine.” B. Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process, 178-79 (1921). At least two judges handling issues under Title 38 have considered Justice Cardozo’s...