M.K. resided in an assisted living facility (ALF) since 2006. She applied for Medicaid benefits and was approved as of May 1, 2015. Due to the income limitations of the Medicaid program, M.K. deposited all of her income in a Qualified Income Trust, or QIT. By doing so, income deposited in the QIT was not.. read more →
A Massachusetts trial court ruled that a Medicaid hearing examiner should have accepted evidence that a Medicaid applicant’s transfer of her house fell under the caretaker child exception and that the applicant’s other transfers were not made in order to qualify for Medicaid. Coko v. Daniel Tsai, Director of the Office of Medicaid (Essex Sup. Ct… read more →
A New Jersey appeals court held that the state was not required to assist a Medicaid applicant by obtaining debit card statements from her bank to verify her application. C.F.J. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (N.J. Super. Ct., App. Div., No. A-4385-16T4, Dec. 11, 2018). C.F.J. entered a nursing home and applied for.. read more →
Wyoming’s highest court ruled that the state should not have denied a Medicaid applicant’s request to reduce her penalty period because her sons partially returned transferred assets by paying her attorneys’ fees. Anderson v. State of Wyoming (Wyo.,No. 2018 WY 135, Dec. 4, 2018). Nursing home resident Lucile Anderson transferred cash and property to her sons… read more →
Petitioner was admitted to Monmouth Medical Center. Thereafter, petitioner was discharged to Liberty Royal Rehabilitation and Health Care Center (Liberty Royal), a Medicaid certified nursing home. Less than one week later, he was transferred to Crystal Lake Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (Crystal Lake), another Medicaid certified nursing home. Petitioner remained at Crystal Lake until his.. read more →
Nursing home care is growing ever more expensive. Contact your elder law attorney to learn how you can protect some or all of your family’s assets. For the first time, the median cost of a private nursing home room in the United States increased to $100,375 a year in 2018, up 3 percent from 2017,.. read more →
If an applicant for Medicaid signed a contract with an assisted living facility agreeing to a pay privately for a period of time, any penalty resulting from a transfer of assets cannot begin until the end of the private pay period, even if the applicant is otherwise eligible for benefits. B.K. v Division of Medical.. read more →
B.S. was ninety-two years old and residing in a nursing home when she applied to the Monmouth County Division of Social Services, the County Welfare Board (CWB), for Medicaid benefits. In response to the application, the CWB inquired about two 2010 bank withdrawals from petitioner’s accounts, one for $29,955.79 and the other for $37,085.47. Petitioner.. read more →
Reversing a lower court, a Connecticut Appeals Court held that the conservator of a nursing home resident owed a duty of care to the nursing home in which the resident resided to apply for Medicaid on behalf of the resident on a timely basis. The Court allowed the nursing home to sue the conservator personally.. read more →
A New Jersey appeals court ruled that the State must hold a full evidentiary hearing before rejecting the claim of an assisted living facility resident who wanted to deduct the cost of a full-time aide from the income she paid to the facility. G.F. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (N.J. Super. Ct., App… read more →
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A U.S. district court held that a claim by Medicaid applicants against New Jersey officials for wrongly denying their applications is barred by the Eleventh Amendment because it would require the state to pay retroactive benefits. Radogna v. Connolly (U.S. Dist. Ct., D. N.J., No. 1:16-cv-5477 (NLH/KMW), Aug. 24, 2018). Dominic Rodogna and Solomon Krupka both.. read more →
V.S. is a nursing home resident; her adult son is her legal guardian, and she was represented by legal counsel. V.S.’s authorized representative submitted a Medicaid application with the Bergen County Board of Social Services (BCBSS) on her behalf. In response, BCBSS requested information verifying the information on her application, including several months of bank.. read more →
New Jersey recently changed state law governing “refundable” entrance fee agreements used by Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs). State law limits the amount of time that CCRCs are permitted to retain “refundable” entrance fees after a resident vacates a facility due to relocation or death. Until recently, although New Jersey law required CCRCs to repay.. read more →
After a trial court, expressing its disagreement with the legislative policy underlying special needs trusts, placed only a portion of the net settlement proceeds of a lawsuit brought on behalf of a severely disabled person into a special needs trust and ordered the remaining funds be paid directly to the disabled person, resulting in the.. read more →
An Appeals Court affirmed an agency decision denying a Medicaid applicant’s request for a fair hearing because it was filed more than seven months after a denial notice was sent advising him he had twenty days to request a fair hearing, even though the notice was sent directly to the applicant rather than to his.. read more →
Almost every year for the past 10 years, since 2008, reporters from the “60 Minutes” television show interviewed Mike and Carol Daly. Mike and Carol have been married for 54 years. Carol was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and Mike is her full-time caregiver husband. Laughter, love and duty still hold the couple together as Carol’s world.. read more →
A.F. is a quadriplegic as a result of an accident that occurred 20 years ago. She is totally disabled and needs personal assistance to perform all activities of daily living. For many years, A.F. has relied upon Medicaid benefits to provide her with the assistance she desperately needs. Under regulations, the Medicaid agency must re-determine.. read more →
A New Jersey appeals court ruled that a Medicaid applicant who began paying her daughter after the daughter provided two years of free caregiving did not rebut the presumption that a transfer of assets to a relative who previously provided services for free is an uncompensated transfer of assets for Medicaid purposes. E.B. v. Division of.. read more →
John F. McGrail, Jr. died intestate in 2016. His uncle, William J. McGrail, Jr., then filed a complaint against his nephew John’s estate, claiming ownership of a classic car that was part of that estate. The uncle had entered a nursing home in Maryland in 2009. He claimed that, after he entered the nursing home,.. read more →
The veteran in this case had been residing in a medical facility operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for several years. He was incompetent and had no dependents. The veteran had been receiving VA pension benefits based upon financial need. The Director of the VA facility was serving as veteran’s payee. The veteran.. read more →
W.M. was admitted to a nursing home in Cranford, New Jersey. In December 2013, W.M.’s wife, E.M., filed a Medicaid application for W.M. with the local Medicaid agency, the Union County Division of Social Services (“the County”). In January 2014, the County requested additional information and/or documents about W.M.’s income, life insurance, and household expenses… read more →
Nursing homes operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) serve 46,000 veterans annually in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. For years, the VA has monitored care at its nursing facilities through quality indicators and unannounced inspections, and, since 2016, through star rankings based on 11 key indicators, including rates of.. read more →
A.F. was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and osteoarthritis in 2007. She also had difficulty walking. Her husband, T.F., was in failing health, with Parkinson’s disease and COPD, and had other mobility issues. Beginning in 2012, T.F. could not care for A.F. due to his own health problems. T.F. died of lung cancer in 2015. J.F.,.. read more →
In September 2015, Y.M. was declared an incapacitated person, and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) was appointed as Y.M.’s guardian. Y.M. was a resident of Hudson View nursing home. The month after its appointment as guardian, OPG filed a Medicaid application on behalf of Y.M. After the application was denied, Hudson View filed.. read more →
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