Mary set her phone down on the table and frowned. Her husband, Herb, studied her. “What’s wrong?” “I don’t think we can bring Mom home for Christmas. The nursing home said if we remove her from the premises, we have to pay a fee to hold her bed. Otherwise, they can give the bed away to someone else.” “What? That…
When applying for Medi-Cal assistance for long-term care in a skilled nursing facility, our clients must disclose any transfers made in the prior 30 months to another person for less than fair market value. Because Medi-Cal is a program meant to help people with limited resources, Medi-Cal will presume that such transfers are made for the purpose of reducing resources…
Mary slammed the cordless phone onto the receiver. Her husband, Tom, peered at her over the top of his newspaper, his eyebrows cocked in concern. “Now what was that about?” he asked. “That was Beth Willis. She says we can’t use Dad’s long-term care insurance for his home health care because he doesn’t meet the criteria of the policy.” Tom…
A change in nursing home regulations has some elder advocates up in arms. At the center of the dispute is the way nursing homes are fined for engaging in activities that endanger or injure residents. Under the Obama administration, nursing homes that failed to comply with federal regulations were fined for each day they were out of compliance, resulting in…
The California Department of Health Care Services recently announced new Medi-Cal resource numbers for 2019. In All County Welfare Directors Letter (ACWDL) 18-28 the Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA) was increased to $126,420 and the Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMMNA) was increased to $3,161 for 2019. The CSRA is the amount of non-exempt assets that the spouse of a…
We all know that when we turn 65 we are covered by Medicare. But many people don’t know that coverage is not automatic. We actually have to sign up for it. And we have to sign up during a specific time period or risk a penalty. Below is a quick lesson on when and how to do it. WHEN: Some…
The rapidly increasing population of dementia patients in assisted living facilities is challenging not only the facilities providing the care, but also the safety of the other non-afflicted seniors who reside there. Originally, assisted living facilities were created as an alternative to nursing homes. They were designed for those who were independent, but in need of some assistance with daily…
Something we see quite often with our older clients is a joint bank account – parent’s money, child added to the account for convenience of the parent. It really can be very convenient, so, despite the list of problems I’ll get to in a minute, for some families in some situations, adding a child to your bank account can be…