Long Term Care Planning

Find the Right New York Assisted Living Facility

Published on: April 2, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

If stereotypes are to be believed, all living arrangements outside of the home are mired in neglect, confusion, and unhappiness. Virtually no one claims that they want to move into a nursing home or assisted living facility, and many assume that leaving one’s house is only done at the last possible minute and often under duress.

This sort of generalizing about the “horrors” of senior care facilities is often misplaced. There are certainly many low-quality homes and individual residents who despise their living situation. But that is not at all to say that every facility–or even a majority–are like that. The truth is that there are many homes that allow residents to thrive, providing support so that their daily lives are more fulfilled than before, when they lived in their own home (often alone) and without necessary assistance with day to day tasks.

On that topic, a recent New York Times “New Old Age” blog post provides some interesting first-person discussion with one of the nation’s “foremost advocate for people living in assisted living,” Martin Bayne.

Long Term Care Insurance: A Battle of Money & Emotions

Published on: March 28, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

This week the New York Times published a story that will likely ring true to all those who have gone through the process of helping a loved one figure out how to secure the ideal long-term care. It is one of those issues that is easy to talk about in the abstract but that comes packed with intense emotion when one is actually thrust into it and forced to help those closest to them.

One of the scariest aspects to this situation is that it can arise virtually overnight. The NYT story shares the example of one man whose 81-year old parents seemed to go from swimming and playing sports to both becoming frail the next day. Their ailments struck at the same time. His mother developed dementia and passed away within a year of first falling ill. This left the family in a very tough spot. In the midst of grief, they had to make tough choices about how to ensure their father had proper care. Fortunately, the family was in a much better position than many, because the patriarch had purchased a long-term care insurance policy nearly three decades before. That insurance has been able to provide at-home caregivers for the last two years.

That is a key reason why the NY elder law attorneys at our firm encourage families to use long-term care insurance when possible while crafting long-term care plans.

New Database to Search New York Nursing Home Statistics

Published on: March 18, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Sunshine is often the best medicine–particularly when it comes to worries about quality of care and value of public services. When community members are able to easily find out information which explains how much services cost, error rates, and similar details, then efficiency and overall quality will likely improve. That is the idea behind a new “Sunshine Week” project that is being unrolled this week by state officials. As discussed in Business Journal story, the initiative is spearheaded by Governor Cuomo’s office in order to raise awareness of the value of open government.

The project is actually a series of unveilings, all focused on providing data in easily understood formats for residents. Conveniently, the data is all available of a new website: The New York Open Data Portal.

The goal is comprehensive, intending to provide a single location for community members to obtain information about virtually every area of government services, from county-based crime statistics to recommended fishing and river locations. Some aspects of the project may be valuable to area senior citizens and their families. For example, you can view a spreadsheet that lists the specific expenditures from the Office of Aging based on fiscal year and county.

Women May Pay More for Long-Term Care Insurance

Published on: March 5, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many of the changes and new rules associated with health insurance as part of the “Affordable Care Act” (Obamacare) will only take effect over the next year or two. One of those new rules prohibits most health insurance providers from making premium pricing decisions based on one’s gender. However, those rules do not apply to companies that provide long-term care insurance.

Therefore it does not come as a huge surprise that the nation’s largest provider of such insurance–Genworth Financial–announced that they will soon being change rate plans to account for the fact that women are more likely to need paid long-term care. According to a Washington Post story, women seeking such insurance on their own will likely see anywhere from a twenty to forty percent increases in yearly long-term care insurance payments. Importantly, the change will only affect new policyholders, as current members should not be affected. Observers note that other long-term care insurance providers will likely follow suit.

The policy change was made, say the company, because of the fact that over ⅔ of all claims on the insurance are made by women. In order to stabilize prices, the company claims that the premium rates needed to better reflect the risk and ultimate need for long-term care. The increased claims by women are likely a product of the fact that they generally live longer and provide care to their own spouses. Men are far likelier to avoid having to make claims on the insurance because their health declines sooner and their spouse often provides care. Elderly women, however, often come to need support after their spouse has passed, and they do not have the luxury of receiving free care from a relative.

Low Expectations for Federal Long-Term Care Commission

Published on: March 1, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Last year federal legislation was passed affecting elder care issues. In particular, the new law eliminated a floundering attempt to create a national long-term care insurance program. At the same time, the law also called for the creation of a commission to study issues of senior care financing, delivery, and workforce needs. Known as the “Long-Term Care Commission,” the general idea was that the diverse Commission would investigate the issues, create policy proposals, and submit the ideas to Congress to spur possible legislation.

The Status Update

Unfortunately, as a recent Forbes story shares, the Commission is still in dock and there are serious doubts as to whether it will be able to achieve its mission at all. The first issue is that the slate of 15 people to sit on the panel have yet to be decided upon. Apparently the White House has yet to make its three choices, and nothing can be done until the roster is actually complete.

New York Elder Abuse Caught on Tape in the Bronx

Published on: February 25, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The challenges of securing appropriate long-term care are often only understood at the exact moment when that care is needed. After a sudden medical emergency, accident, or other change in condition, many families discover that an elder loved one is in need of long-term help to get by each day. These families then face two difficult questIons: (1) How are we going to pay for it?; (2) How do we know that the quality of the caregivers is sufficient?

For one thing, the financing of long-term care can be secured in many different ways. A NY elder law attorney can explain what options are available in your specific case. Those options may involve insurance, the use of Medicaid Asset Protection trusts, or other unique strategies to save funds even when on the nursing home doorstep. There is no getting around the fact that elder care is quite expensive–startling so–but planning ahead with professionals can save significant sums.

But paying for care is only part of the battle. It is also critical that family members ensure their love ones actually receive the care they deserve, no matter what facility they enter. Sadly, without proper oversight, seniors may face severe neglect or outright abuse by those charged with their well being.

Don’t Underestimate Medical Costs in Retirement

Published on: January 16, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The fiscal cliff crisis dominated the last month of 2012. Even though an agreement was reached on New Years Day, the compromise is far from the end of partisan political battles and confusion. Observers are already making predictions about the possible implications of the looming “debt ceiling” fight between the White House and certain members of the Republican caucus which must be resolved in the next month or two. The outcome may have significant impacts on the nation’s long-term stability and the performance of the financial sector.

It is easy to see how New Yorkers thinking about their long-term care planning and retirement might be uneasy about the state of affairs. While some things are simply out of your hands, it is critical not to forget that there are smart ways to plan for retirement regardless of the flux in national politics. A recent Forbes article is worth a look, as it explores five of the best way to protect one’s retirement from the federal government’s “fiscal follies.”

Plan Ahead

Compromise Bill & Long-Term Care Planning

Published on: January 7, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

One aspect of the “compromise bill” passed last week to avert the fiscal cliff may eventually have impact on planning for New York long-term care costs. While it does not have any immediate effects for local residents, it is important to discuss as it could lead to proposals down the road to tackle the problem of paying for long-term care. Specifically, a portion of the compromise bill did two things: formally ended the CLASS Act and also created a federal commission to study the issue of financing senior care. Both components are worth discussing more fully.

First, the CLASS Act was a bill passed as part of the comprehensive healthcare law of 2010. The idea was that the measure would create a voluntary, national long-term care insurance program. Our elder law attorneys frequently share information on the merits of long-term care insurance, as it is often the premier way for local residents to ensure they receive high-quality senior care in whatever manner is best for them with minimal disruption of their lives. The major downside, of course, is the costs, which can be prohibitive to many.

Those same cost concerns seem to have been the main problem with the CLASS Act as well. Even though the law was passed in 2010, it had essentially already been abandoned by even its supporters before this formal axing via the fiscal cliff compromise bill. That is mostly because actuaries had determined the program to be far too expensive for most residents to participate anyway.

Elder Financial Exploitation: Prevention & Reporting Abuse

Published on: December 21, 2012 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Earlier this week we shared information on the new guide from ElderCare Locator. The brochure (available here) provides helpful tips for all New York families to ensure theft from seniors is stopped. As noted, the problem is widespread, affecting as many as one in ten elderly community members. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to tackle the problem. But it is also worthwhile to be reminded of the basics.

Prevention

Education is the key to stopping senior financial exploitation in its tracks. If all elderly community members are trained in the most common scams and keep a close eye on all financial details, then the chance of theft going unnoticed is drastically reduced. Beyond that, the best way to prevent abuse is by use of third-party support. For example, the AARP provides a wealth of information on various “money managers” who help seniors with day-to-day financial transactions. They may be particularly helpful for those who have just lost a partner. Often one partner in a relationship will handle more of the financial details, if that partner passes away, then the other is often placed in a difficult financial situation without the experience to keep things in order. To learn more about money managers take a look at the AARP website on the subject: www.aarpmmp.org

Don’t Wait for Disaster to Plan for the Future

Published on: November 16, 2012 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Hurricane Sandy brought with it many preparedness lessons. Everyone leads a busy life, and it is easy to procrastinate on matters that do not have immediate ramifications. Update the will or drive Mom to her doctor’s appointment? No contest. Often it is only when something is barrelling down on us–like a hurricane–that we act to get certain affairs in order. Sometimes, there is simply not enough time to properly plan before disaster strikes.

For example, stories have emerged regarding the lack of planning exhibited by a nursing home in Queens, leading to suffering and chaos among residents. The New York Times recently reported on the fiasco at the long-term care facility. According to reports by several familiar with the incident–including some facility employees–the owners of the home were far from prepared for the major weather event. The facility is near the water, and in the midst of the storm, most of the first floor windows were blown out. Rising waters then seeped into the area, flooding everything. Many of the residents were upstairs at the time, and the water took out the power. At first the caregivers assumed the back-up generators would have things up and running again. They didn’t. That is because the generators were on the first floor and were swept up in the flooding. On top of that, the owners and operators of the facility had not stocked up enough food for the disaster, and the kitchen itself was on the first floor. This all meant that very vulnerable senior residents were forced to wait hours in the cold without food, water, or access to certain electronic devices they desperately needed for health and well-being purposes.

But it gets even worse.