In Weatherbee v. Richman, 595 F. Supp. 2d 607 (W.D. Pa. 2009), the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania reversed the denial of Medicaid benefits to a nursing home resident (“institutionalized spouse”), holding that the income from an irrevocable, non-transferable, non-assignable, single premium, immediate annuity payable to the spouse of the nursing.. read more →
The Elder Mediation Center of New Jersey (EMC-NJ), a collaborative alliance of elder law mediators / attorneys, Tony Serra, Nina Weiss and Donald D. Vanarelli, and geriatric care manager Marcie Cooper; recently held a training session in the specialized field of elder mediation. The training was held on November 10, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. –.. read more →
In Shelales v. Director of the Office of Medicaid (Mass.App.Ct., No. 08-P-2052, Oct. 30, 2009), the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that the transfer penalty period resulting when an applicant for nursing home Medicaid benefits transferred some of her assets to her children and then gave the remainder to a nursing home as prepayment for care would not begin.. read more →
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced that with no increase in the consumer price index upon which the spousal impoverishment standards are based, there will be no increase in the community spouse resource allowances (CSRA) and the maximum monthly maintenance needs allowance for 2010. The 2009 spousal impoverishment standards, which are also.. read more →
This past weekend, November 7 – 8, 2009, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) held a conference for members in Jersey City, New Jersey entitled “The Public Benefits and Guardianship Institute.” This was the first time that NAELA held one of its events in New Jersey. The conference consisted of a variety of.. read more →
Family members in search of sources of funding of long-term care costs for loved ones who can no longer live independently are repeatedly given misinformation about the effect of Aid and Attendance (“A&A”) benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) on future eligibility for Medicaid. For example, staff at assisted living facilities often warn.. read more →
This week, the New Jersey Supreme Court changed the ethics rules to allow lawyers, for the first time, to mention their inclusion in Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, the Martindale-Hubbell AV rankings or other rating services in advertisements and other promotional materials distributed to the public. Under the original Rule of Professional Conduct 7.1(a)(3),.. read more →
The entire controversy doctrine requires litigants in a lawsuit to assert all claims that each party might have against the party in a single lawsuit. R. 4:30A The doctrine is intended to prevent fractionalized litigation. There are three reasons for the doctrine: (1) the need for complete and final disposition through the avoidance of piecemeal.. read more →
The Social Security Administration (SSA) published its annual Fact Sheet last month, showing changes to SSA benefits upcoming in 2010. I found three items of interest on the Fact Sheet: The SSA officially acknowledged that there would be no cost-of-living adjustment next year for monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. The new.. read more →
In case you missed any of them, here are our top 5 most popular posts from last month. The original post date, along with a short summary of the content of each post, are included after each hyperlinked title. Federal Judge Enjoins New Jersey From Denying Medicaid Eligibility To Aged Parents Who Transferred Assets Outright.. read more →
The gift tax annual exclusion is the maximum amount which a taxpayer can gift each year to any beneficiary without being required to use his or her $1 million lifetime gift exemption amount. If gifts are limited each year to the annual exclusion amount established in the year of the gift, the person making the.. read more →
[I received the following email from the National Senior Citizens Law Center and affiliated groups concerning a survey being conducted in order to “raise awareness of the issues facing older adults who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (“LGBT”) and live in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other long-term care facilities.” Because I believe.. read more →
In a matter involving personal service agreements, five petitioners brought a court action challenging determinations by the Oneida County and Herkimer County Department of Social Services (DSS) which denied Medicaid benefits to applicants who had executed personal service agreements while residing in a nursing home. In each case, DSS found there had been a transfer.. read more →
Special needs trusts (also known as “supplemental needs” trusts) allow a disabled beneficiary to receive gifts, lawsuit settlements, or other funds and yet not lose his or her eligibility for certain government programs. Such trusts are drafted so that the funds will not be considered to belong to the beneficiary in determining eligibility for public.. read more →
An Opinion and Order was entered on October 20, 2009 by Administrative Law Judge Joseph A. Paone, in the consolidated matter of the Estate of F.L. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services and the Union County Board of Social Services, OAL Docket No. HMA 13756-08. The ruling in the Estate of F.L. case.. read more →
Sable v. Velez, Civ. No. 09-2813 (D.N.J., October 16, 2009), involved five applicants for nursing home Medicaid benefits. The applications filed by four of the five applicants were denied and one application was pending at the time of the court decision. Each denial was premised upon excess resources based upon the State’s decision to include certain.. read more →
In order to qualify for Medicaid benefits, applicants cannot possess assets which exceed the financial limits established in the program. In order to prevent applicants from wrongly achieving Medicaid eligibility by transferring their excess resources to others, Congress has established rules which impose a “transfer penalty”, or period of ineligibility for Medicaid benefits, whenever an.. read more →
Funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been late in getting approved by Congress in 20 of the last 23 years, which has affected the planning of veterans’ health care programs. This month, the President signed into law H.R. 1016, an act entitled The Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of.. read more →
Gov. Jon Corzine recently signed into law new legislation that requires fiduciaries of estates for developmentally disabled individuals to post bonds in Superior Court as a safeguard against theft and other improper conduct. The bill, S-550 , sponsored by Sen. Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, goes into effect in 60 days. S-550 requires that the amount of.. read more →
In A.P. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court reversed a decision by the Bergen County Board of Social Services (BCBSS) that was affirmed by the Director of the state Medicaid agency, holding that the transfer of a family home to the sibling of two.. read more →
In June 2009, plaintiff, Daisy Jeanne Prall, applied for nursing home Medicaid benefits with the Ocean County Board of Social Services. To be eligible for Medicaid, plaintiff and her spouse, Christopher Prall, cannot own resources which exceed $111,560; $109,560 is the community spouse resource allowance and $2,000 is the institutionalized spouse resource allowance. Although the.. read more →
In these Monthly Roundups, I like to highlight my most popular blog posts from the preceding month. The following hyperlinked titles identify the top 10 most accessed articles on this blog in September 2009, along with the original post date. The listed posts attracted the most traffic in the past month. I also provide a short summary of.. read more →
Parkinson’s Disease, B Cell Leukemias and Ischemic Heart Disease Recognized WASHINGTON, October 13, 2009 – Relying on an independent study by the Institute of Medicine, Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), established a presumption of service-connection for Vietnam Veterans suffering from three specific illnesses based on the latest evidence of.. read more →
In a case which resolved a conflict between two sections of the New Jersey Cemetery Act of 2003, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled that a widow who claimed she was duped or misled into believing her husband wanted to be buried in his lineal family’s plot cannot move his remains, since New Jersey.. read more →
The House has voted to give the disabled, as well as gays and lesbians, federal protection from hate crimes. The new legislation also makes it a new federal crime to attack U.S. service members because of their sexual orientation. With passage by the Senate expected, federal prosecutors will, for the first time, be able to.. read more →
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