Donald D. Vanarelli, Esq. (http://VanarelliLaw.com/) will present at a ZOOM Webinar on February 10, 2021 at 7:00 PM along with Spectrum Care Management and Counseling, LLC, a support coordination agency.

Mr. Vanarelli will speak on planning to attain eligibility for Medicaid benefits from New Jersey’s Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, and how Medicaid eligibility impacts services from the state’s Division of Developmental Disabilities (“DDD”).

For practical purposes, in the United States the only public medical “insurance” plan available to pay for long-term care, provided at home, in an institution or from DDD, is Medicaid (called “Medicaid Long Term Services and Supports” or “MLTSS” in New Jersey).

Medicare pays for only 23 percent of long-term care costs in the United States, and benefits are usually limited, continuing for a maximum of 100 days per “benefit period” in many cases. Private medical insurance pays even less. Since few have long-term care insurance, most people pay for long-term care costs privately, out of their own savings, until they spend-down their assets and become eligible for Medicaid.

While eligibility for Medicare is based upon your work history, Medicaid is a public benefit based upon financial need. To be eligible for Medicaid, you must limited  income and few assets in accordance with Medicaid program guidelines.

In this informative ZOOM webinar, Attorney Vanarelli will explain the basic rules of the Medicaid program in New Jersey, how applicants can become eligible for benefits, the type, amount and frequency of benefits available, and the various kinds of care Medicaid benefits can pay for.

For additional information regarding this event, please see below. For additional information regarding Medicaid eligibility. Medicaid planning and DDD services, as well as other elder law and estate planning issues, contact Vanarelli & Li, LLC at 908-232-7400, or visit online at http://VanarelliLaw.com/.

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Donald D. Vanarelli

Donald D. Vanarelli is a Certified Elder Law Attorney, Certified by the National Elder Law Foundation, an ABA-certifying organization. In addition to being one of only about 500 attorneys who have been Certified in Elder Law in the United States, Mr. Vanarelli is also one of about 100 members of the Council of Advanced Practitioners of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, selected for this honor by his fellow practitioners.

Don also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Elder and Disability Law Section. The Lifetime Achievement Award, the Elder and Disability Law Section’s highest honor, is bestowed on an attorney with an established history of distinguished service who has made significant contributions in the field of elder and disability law throughout his or her career. Don is also an Accredited Veterans Attorney,  an Accredited Professional Mediator and a Past Chair of the Elder and Disability Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Don is actively involved in trial advocacy on behalf of elderly and disabled citizens, and has successfully litigated cases in New Jersey’s Supreme Court and in federal court.  Don was lead counsel representing the plaintiff in a seminal estate planning / guardianship / Medicaid planning case entitled In re Keri, 181 N.J. 50 (2004), in which the New Jersey Supreme Court, for the first time, permitted guardians to engage in public benefits planning to obtain Medicaid eligibility for their wards. Don also represented the plaintiff in a pivotal case entitled Saccone v. Police and Firemen’s Retirement System, 219 N.J. 369 (2014) in which the New Jersey Supreme Court, for the first time, permitted a special needs trust to be designated as the beneficiary of a state pension. Don was also co-counsel representing the plaintiff in Galletta v. Velez, Civil No. 13-532 (D.N.J. June 3, 2014) in which a federal court ruled, for the first time, that a pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs may not be counted as income in determining Medicaid eligibility.

Don represents seniors and disabled persons in estate planning, financing long-term medical care, nursing home issues, qualifying for Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid and other public benefits, special needs planning, and litigation, including probate, elder abuse and guardianship lawsuits.