Caregiving

7 Limitations to Medicare

Published on: April 7, 2022 | by Ettinger Law Firm

With more people approaching the age of 65, a growing number of people are considering the potential benefits available from Medicare as well as other insurance options. Medicare A plays the critical role of paying for hospital stays as well as other services like skilled nursing facilities and hospice care. Meanwhile, Part B assists with physician visits and outpatient care.

If you’re close to enrolling in Medicare, you should consider what Medicare covers. By learning what Medicare covers now as well as what it doesn’t, you can begin thinking of alternate strategies to make sure that you receive all of the appropriate care that you need.

Prescriptions

Coronavirus Deaths Encourage New Elder Law Guidelines

Published on: April 7, 2022 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Delegates for the Association for Behavioral Analysis’ recently approved several guidelines related to the news of older people in the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic.

One of these proposals, Resolution 603, adopts recommendations from a Guardian Summit and ultimately encourages all regulators to incorporate these measures when revising guardianship laws. The spokesperson who introduced the measure stated that more individuals have grown cognizant of it, but that guardianship is a widespread issue.

The proposals made during this meeting are best divided into several areas: the rights of guardianships, assisted decision-choosing, restricted guardianship, arrangements providing protection, diversions of pipelines, monitoring guardianships, facing abuse, fiscal responsibility, fiscal hardships, and guardianship improvement.

Geriatric Guidelines Suggest How to Improve Elderly Care

Published on: March 14, 2022 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The substantial growth of elderly adults in the United States leads to more emergency room visits and complications from injuries and diseases. To meet this challenge, the Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines were published in 2014 and later received support from several large medical organizations including Emergency Nurses Association and the American Geriatrics Society.

The guidelines characterize the nuanced needs of older emergency department patients and current best practices to promote more cost-effective and patient-focused care. These recommendations require more staff as well as more resources.

What Researchers Discovered

Answers to Commonly Asked Medicare Home Health Questions

Published on: March 1, 2022 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Center for Medicare Advocacy recently published a document answering various questions about Medicare’s home health benefits. In addition to a document answering frequently asked questions, the Center also published recordings of two webinars, “Medicare Coverage of Home Health Services”, which reviews the eligibility basics for Medicare coverage of home health services.

What Do Home Health Agencies Do?

Medicare’s home health benefits are known as the Mediacertified home health agencies. These benefits have been approved by Medicare to provide the home health services that Medicare covers. The agency has agreed to receive payment from Medicare. Additionally, Medicare only pays for home health services administered by home health agencies that are Medicare-certified.

Federal Agency Increases Visibility about Fines Faced by Nursing Homes

Published on: February 21, 2022 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The federal department tasked with overseeing nursing homes throughout the country recently announced it is revising its policy and will now publicly post details online about all fines received by care facilities regardless of payment status.

This new policy’s announcements occur during a period of increased criticism due to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMMS) Care Compare website. The agency describes its website as existing to provide American citizens with details regarding matters of the level of care at nursing homes.

Changes to Nursing Home Fines

Court’s Expansive Interpretation of Abuse Act Widens Protection for Elder

Published on: February 21, 2022 | by Ettinger Law Firm

As 2022 begins, one court case highlights the role of the Elder Abuse Act as well as the prevalent nature of elder abuse cases litigation involving trusts and estates. In the Ring case, an appellate court considered a loan scheme utilized to empty equity from a house retained as part of an estate proceeding through probate.

Even though a loan was withdrawn by a person acting in the role of the estate’s personal representative, the court held that the representative could pursue a claim of elder abuse connected to the loss of the representative’s interest in relation to the estate.

The Basis of the Case

How to Help an Elderly Loved One Without Overstepping Boundaries

Published on: February 12, 2022 | by Ettinger Law Firm

New variants of COVID-19 including Omnicron and most recently IHU have led many people to prolong social distancing. Understandably, this extended isolation has had a detrimental impact on the mental health of many elderly adults. While you understandably want the best for your loved one, it’s critical to approach discussions about care with the utmost respect for your elderly loved one’s independence. This avoids not overstepping your elderly loved one’s boundaries.

Decide If Your Family Member Needs Assistance

One of the best places to start is to create a mental checklist of what you should examine about how your elderly loved one lives. Some of the most important details you might decide to examine include:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Revises Nursing Home Visitation Requirements

Published on: November 29, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Nursing homes have been substantially impacted by the COVID-19 due to its outbreaks leading to high mortality rates among the elderly. Understandably, aggressive attempts were made to restrict the risk of Covid-19 exposure as much as possible.

In March 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a memorandum guiding restricting visitation of all visitors and non-essential healthcare workers. Several months later, in May 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its reopening recommendation for nursing homes which provided additional guidance in dealing with Covid-19 and reopening.

The Center notes that physical separation from loved ones has taken a substantial physical and emotional toll on nursing home residents as well as their loved ones. The Center for Medicaid Services appreciates that nursing home residents find value in the support they receive from visitations by their loved ones. Consequently, the Center recently revised its guidance addressing visitation in nursing homes during the pandemic.

Understanding Psychiatric Advance Directives

Published on: November 3, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In 1990, the United States Supreme Court acknowledged the constitutional right of a patient to decline medical treatment. Over the last couple of decades, New York state has slowly recognized that traditional health care advance directives do not sufficiently deal with mental health issues. Consequently, a large number of states have issued legislation permitting mental health care advance directives.

New York Law and Psychiatric Advance Directives

A person can utilize New York’s Health Care Agents and Proxies law to nominate an agent to make decisions for them if that individual cannot do so. Additionally, a person might decide to write a living will containing instructions for the mental health care that person would like to receive.

Utilizing an Able Account to Care for Loved Ones

Published on: October 4, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

A family with a disabled child faces countless obstacles. For many years, one of the best estate planning tools for parents in such a situation was a special needs trust. These trusts provide resources to care for disabled children while making sure that the child remains eligible for means-tested government benefits.

Many people lately have realized that Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Accounts can also be helpful. Signed into law in 2014, ABLE Accounts were created by Internal Revenue Code Section 529A which authorizes the state to offer tax-advantaged savings accounts for blind and disabled individuals.

How ABLE Accounts Are Structured