qualified income trusts FAQs from medicaid planning lawyer in jacksonville, Florida

Trump Administration Strengthens Nursing Home Oversight and Safety to Ensure Adequate Staffing

The following message was released on November 30, 2018, by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced actions that will bolster nursing home oversight and improve transparency in order to ensure that facilities are staffed adequately to provide high-quality long term care. These…

What Financial Protections Are Available for My Spouse When I Enter a Nursing Home and Receive Medicaid Benefits?

Often our clients seeking Medicaid benefits to help pay for nursing home care, or other long term care, are concerned about financial protections available to the stay at home spouse. They want to know how many assets or how much income the healthy spouse will be allowed to keep to ensure the financial well-being of…

Home Health Care Patients With Chronic Conditions Are Having Trouble Getting Medicare

Medicare is supposed to provide up to 35 hours a week of home care to those who qualify, but many Medicare patients with chronic conditions are being wrongly denied such care, according to Kaiser Health News. For a variety of reasons, many home health care agencies are simply telling patients they are not covered. Medicare…

Don’t Let Health Care Providers Use the Improvement Standard to Deny Medicare Coverage

Have you or a loved one been denied Medicare-covered services because you’re “not improving” or “not making progress”? Many health care providers are still not aware that Medicare is required to cover skilled nursing and home care even if a patient is not showing improvement. If you are denied coverage based on this outdated standard,…

Use of Immediate Annuities in Medicaid Planning for Married Couples

Immediate annuities can be a useful tool to protect the spouse of a nursing home resident who applies for Medicaid. These types of annuities allow the nursing home resident to spend down assets and give the spouse a guaranteed income. Immediate annuities are an available planning tool in the State of Florida. Medicaid is the…

Nursing Homes Cannot Discharge a Resident for Nonpayment if Medicaid Pending

New Medicare rules designed to give nursing home residents more control of their care are being phased into effect. The rules give nursing home residents more options regarding meals and visitation as well as make changes to discharge and grievance procedures. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid finalized the rules — the first comprehensive update to…

Short-Term Care Insurance: An Alternative to the Long-Term Care Variety

A little-known insurance option can be an answer for some people who might need care but are unable to buy long-term care insurance. Short-term care insurance provides coverage for nursing home or home care for one year or less. As long-term care premiums rise, short-term care insurance is gaining in popularity. This type of insurance…

The Costs of Dementia: For the Patient and the Family

A recent report from the Alzheimer’s Association states that one in nine Americans age 65 or older currently has Alzheimer’s. With the baby boomer generation aging and people living longer, that number is expected to nearly triple by 2050. Alzheimer’s, of course, is just one cause of dementia—mini-strokes (TIAs) are also to blame—so the number of…