We received two similar questions this week and will address them both. Q1. My aunt opened a savings account at her local bank for her son (my cousin) in the late 1980’s when my cousin was in college. When she opened the account for him, the bank representative, trying to be helpful, suggested that the […]
Navigating the Complexity of Medicaid and Medicare Dual Eligibility
Q. I am aware that many people are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare. How does dual eligibility work? It seems like anything involving Medicaid and/or Medicare can be pretty complicated. Can you tell me more about it and if/how these two programs are somehow integrated? Thanks for your help! A. Please note that this […]
One-Stop Resource for Medicare Offerings
Dear Angel, I recently signed up for Medicare. What is the best place to go to find out about all of the offerings, including preventative care and chronic care management? Thanks for your help! Juan Stopp — Dear Juan, Coverage to Care initiative created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to help […]
A Screening Tool Exists that Accurately Predicts End-of-Life
Q. I read somewhere that there is a screening tool that was developed to more accurately predict someone’s risk of dying based on different factors. Do you know more about this or other screening tools that are out there and how they work? Is this too much information, or can people use this information to […]
Misinformation about Medicaid in Popular Media and Journalists Getting Legal Information from Non-Lawyers
Medicaid turns 59 in July 2024! In the summer of 1965, President Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress asking that we honor a basic commitment to our seniors. He asked that the later years of their lives not be filled with “despondency and drift, or fear of financial hardship in the event of illness,” […]
Prescribing Art: Can Art Be Used to Treat Conditions Affecting Seniors?
Two years ago, I wrote a three-part series that shared the wisdom of Katya De Luisa, a dementia educator and author of “Journey through the Infinite Mind–the Science and Spirituality of Dementia.” Besides being a dementia educator, caregiver coach, and author, Katya De Luisa is an art therapist. She describes art as “a window into […]
Are You a Super-Ager?
Are you someone in your 80s or older whose memory recall seems to be as good or even better than people decades younger than you? If you are, you’re in a relatively rare category of people known as “super-agers” — people who can easily recall things from many years ago with exceptional clarity along with […]
Comparing a Certified Medicaid Planner with a Certified Elder Law Attorney
Q. My sister-in-law and my husband have recently been discussing Medicaid Planning for my husband’s mother, who is in an early stage of dementia. You and your law firm represented my parents several years ago when we needed to protect their assets and get my mom on Medicaid. Thank you again for that! My siblings […]
Am I Financially Liable If I Sign a Nursing Home Agreement for Someone Else?
Dear Oakley, When a loved one enters a nursing home, who is the person who signs the legal documents? Would it be the individual themselves, the spouse, or the children? Does signing the papers make the person who signed financially responsible for the nursing home costs? Thanks, Lya Bull — Dear Lya, If the nursing […]
What the US Government is Doing to Keep Nursing Homes COVID-Free
In late spring of 2021, the 142 nursing homes operated by the Good Samaritan Society hit a milestone that was unthinkable just four months earlier: Zero cases of COVID-19 across the whole company, from 900 at the peak of the pandemic. The relief was short-lived though. In recent months, the case count has ticked up […]
After the Covid-19 Pandemic—How It Has Impacted Retirement
Jane and Steve were planning on retiring in five years. Now, a year after the COVID-19 pandemic, those plans have changed. When Steve’s business wasn’t doing well this past year, they couldn’t contribute to their retirement accounts, as they had every month in the past. A year of not being able to contribute and a […]
The Hippie Who Has Helped Thousands of Families with ALS
Ron Hoffman, 67, spent most of his life haunted by something from his childhood. When he was growing up in Richmond, VA, his father was an alcoholic and was abusive to his mother. One night, when Hoffman was 10, his father snapped and pointed a gun at his mother. Hoffman dove in front of her, […]
Why Long-Term Care Planning is Even More Important During a Pandemic (Part 2 of a 3-part Series)
Suzanne is a family caregiver for her 75-year-old mother who has dementia and for her two young children. She is most concerned about her mother, who has a weakened immune system, and her infant son, being only 2 months old. With no vaccine at the moment, the best thing caregivers similar to Suzanne can do […]
When Your Aging Parent Is Running Out of Money
Q. My mother, Rosie, is 97 years old. She is still mentally sharp and she pays her bills on time. She does need some help physically, ever since she broke her hip from a fall a few years ago. Besides the broken hip, she has survived a heart attack and pneumonia. We are fortunate that […]
New Hope for Diagnosing Alzheimer’s: Plus, Unlikely Team of Players Unite to Battle Disease
Don’t overlook the quality of life and dignity that can be preserved through Alzheimer’s Planning. Until there is a cure or vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease, the focus for many families is on ensuring the quality of life and dignity of those suffering with this disease. For more on Alzheimer’s Planning, please visit us at https://web.archive.org/web/20160110044450/http://alzheimersplanning.com/.