03 Nov 2008
November 3, 2008

I was a Speaker at the 2008 NAELA Advanced Elder Law Institute

Elder Law, Financial Exploitation of the Elderly, Governmental or Public Benefit Programs, Medicaid Applications, Medicaid Planning 0 Comment

This year, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys held its Advanced Institute in Kansas City, Missouri from October 23 – 26. The program-of-events-10-31-08 shows that the presentations at the Institute covered a wide array of subjects. I attended two terrific sessions on the eligibility criteria for Veterans Administration (VA) service-related compensation benefits and non-service.. read more →

29 Oct 2008
October 29, 2008

New Medicaid Planning Strategy Held To Be Valid In New Jersey In An Important New Case

Elder Law, Gifts, Governmental or Public Benefit Programs, Medicaid Applications, Promissory Notes 0 Comment

As I reported in a May 22, 2008 blog posting several months ago, I received a denial notice from the Middlesex County welfare agency in a case in which the applicant’s Medicaid eligibility plan involved making a loan to a relative. The borrowing relative signed a promissory note agreeing to repay the note in monthly installments, including.. read more →

27 Oct 2008
October 27, 2008

Medicaid Spousal Impoverishment Figures for 2009 Released by CMS

Governmental or Public Benefit Programs, Medicaid Applications, Medicaid Planning 0 Comment

Updated Figures for 2009. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)  has released the community spouse resource allowance and the maximum monthly maintenance needs allowance for 2009. The new minimum CSRA is $21,912 and the new maximum is $109,560. The new maximum monthly maintenance needs allowance is $2,739. The minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance.. read more →

07 Oct 2008
October 7, 2008

A NJ Administrative Law Judge Recently Ruled That The Prepayment by a Medicaid Applicant For Care To Be Provided In The Future By A Family Member Under A Personal Services Contract Was A Transfer Of Assets For Less Than Fair Market Value, Resulting In The Imposition Of A Penalty

Care Contracts, Medicaid Applications, Medicaid Planning, New Cases 0 Comment

In a trio of cases which were consolidated because the cases presented a common question of law, NJ Administrative Law Judge Joseph A. Paone recently ruled that a Medicaid applicant’s prepayment for personal care services to be provided in the future by a family member under a Life Care Contract constituted a transfer of assets.. read more →

29 Sep 2008
September 29, 2008

A New York Appeals Court Holds That The Usual Household Expenses Incurred by a Wife Necessitate An Increased Maintenance Allowance Even Though Her Husband Is A Medicaid Recipient In A Nursing Home

Governmental or Public Benefit Programs, Medicaid Applications, Medicaid Planning 0 Comment

A New York appeals court held that a community spouse is entitled to an increased minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance (MMMNA) because her basic monthly expenses are almost double her monthly income and therefore qualify as “exceptional circumstances” necessitating access to her husband’s income. Matter of Balzarini v. Suffolk County Dept. of Social Servs. (N.Y… read more →

28 Apr 2008
April 28, 2008

Financial Exploitation of an Elder May Have Negative Consequences if the Elder Later Applies for Medicaid Benefits

Financial Exploitation of the Elderly, Medicaid Applications, Medicaid Planning 0 Comment

I recently litigated two different cases in the Superior Court, Union County, each involving the financial exploitation of the elderly. In one case, a non-relative “friend” took a frail, elderly widow into her home as a tenant. The elderly widow had no family in NJ. The friend acted as caregiver for the elder, and the.. read more →

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