Long Term Care Planning

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.

Remember our Seniors in Sandy’s Aftermath

Published on: November 6, 2012 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Our city continues to dig itself out of the worst weather situation in modern memory. Hurricane Sandy tore through our area with a vengence last week, decimating areas near the water and leaving millions struggling to slowly re-gain a sense of normalcy. At these times, the elder law attorneys at our firm remind local residents to keep a close eye on all friends and family members who might need a little extra support following this disaster: our seniors.

These sorts of weather-event are hard on everyone. But they are particularly risky for vulnerable seniors, many of whom rely on nursing care and at-home support to get by each day. For these elderly community members, even going to the store requires significant work, and so it is was not easy for them to take all of the steps to prepare for the disaster and stock up for the long clean-up afterwards. This is true both for seniors who live at home as well as those who are in assisted-living facilities.

Unfortunately, some stories have already rolled out regarding some evacuation problems with a few nursing homes right near the harbor. According to reports in the Huffington Post, at least six facilities in the must-evacuate zone were actually told by city officials to stay in the nursing home. A caregiver explained afterwards that it was incredibly scary, as all residents were forced onto the higher floors with flooding taking over the lower levels. The flooding took out some back-up generators, and so the residents and nursing home staff members have had quite a time piecing things together following the storm.

New Tool to Search New York Nursing Home Evaluations

Published on: November 1, 2012 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Your ailing father or mother prepared ahead of time with long-term care insurance or was finally accepted in the Medicaid program. The resources now are available to receive the long-term care they need. Considering the seriousness of their ailments, skilled nursing assistance that can only be provided in a traditional nursing home might be necessary. But what home to choose?

There are no easy answers when it comes to choosing the best nursing home for a loved one. The task is made all the more difficult by the horror stories that often come out of these facilities. Reminders of seniors who are neglected, abused, and living in misery seem to constantly make newspaper headlines. How do you ensure that the facility where you send your loved one will be a place where they can thrive in their golden years, despite their health set-backs? Is there any way to best research possible options or is it all just a matter a luck?

Fortunately, more and more tools are being created and made available to the public to efficiently compare different nursing homes in consideration. For the longest time the only option was to take a look at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMS) “Nursing Home Compare” website. While the location is helpful, it sometimes does not have the detailed information about past events or certain quality of care standards that some families might be looking for. Now there is another tool available–ProPublica’s “Nursing Home Inspect.” The data from ProPublica is culled from CMS report releases, but it is organized in such a way as to provide more direct and accessible information for those needing to get information quickly. All told the website currently has information covering almost 118,000 deficiencies at 14,565 nursing homes. This is quite a significant achievement covering the vast majority of facilities in the country. The tool will likely expand in the future, as ProPublica aims to continuously add more information as CMS officials release more and more inspection reports.

Public Programs Advocate for Earlier Long-Term Care Planning

Published on: October 10, 2012 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Money is at the heart of so much of the discussion between candidates and parties this election season. Disagreement about how much money the state and federal government should take in and what they should spend it on is hotly contested between those vying to lead our community. However, for all the disagreement, there is one financial issue that those on both sides of the aisles agree–the earlier the better to plan for long-term care needs.

Medicaid costs constitute a large portion of both the state and federal budget. New York is actually at the top of the list nationwide when it comes to the total spent annually on the program to assist lower income Americans–including many seniors in need of nursing home support. The fact that the cost is high does not necessarily mean that it must be lowered. But it does mean that officials have discussions every cycle about potential cuts and changes to the program that might affect current participants (or those soon to be joining).

For this reason, many community across country are stepping up efforts to advocate for earlier, individualized long-term care planning–well before retirement. The Duluth News Tribune recently discussed one such program that is indicative of efforts in various parts of the country, including New York. The program, sponsored by the state and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is entitled “Own Your Future.” The goal is to urge those in the prime of their lives–ages 45 to 65–to be proactive about planning for their potential needs in the future.

Bronx Nursing Home Offers One-of-a-Kind Dementia Care

Published on: October 2, 2012 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In recent years there has been a push to alter care for seniors with dementia. Most arguments about superior elder care focus on limiting medication-only treatment options. These “chemical restraints” are still overused, with seniors in many nursing homes lulled into a near-stupor as a result of antipsychotic medication. In overcrowded or understaffed long-term care facilities, these drugs are often the only way that caregivers feel that they can handle the challenges that come with dementia and Alzheimer’s care.

However, just because medication is the most common way to deal with a resident with dementia does not mean that it is the best way. In fact, many elder care advocates argue that the best care steers clear of overuse of medication and provides tailored care that focuses on the individual senior and not the cognitive disease.

What does that individual care look like? One Bronx nursing home is receiving national plaudits for its work on the issue.

Failure to Update a Plan Nightmare

Published on: August 3, 2012 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Estate planning takes time. Unfortunately, considering the daily time stresses faced by all local residents, our New York elder law estate planning attorneys appreciate that there is often not a sense of “urgency” with this planning. It is usually a task that gets pushed to the side while day-to-day choeres are dealt with.

Yet, there are many individuals out there who can testify about the consequences of failing to plan their estate.

For example, one recent editorial shared that story of a husband and wife who had been married for one year. The husband was waiting for a liver transplant and despite his precarious health situation the couple did not do any estate planning, thinking they had “plenty of time.” This would prove incredibly harmful for the family.

Pair Tries to Scam Woman Out of Multi-Million Dollar Manhattan Apartment Building

Published on: May 10, 2012 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Much recent attention has been centered on senior financial exploitation. In particular, many elder care advocates in our state and throughout the country are working to educate the older generations on common techniques used by hucksters to take advantage of unsuspecting seniors. Usually this awareness effort involves explaining the most common small-time scams targeting this group like the “foreign lottery” scam and the “call from grandchild” scam. See here for a previous post here discussing some of these issues.

When using these types of scams the perpetrators usually try to profit by collecting smaller amounts of money from many different seniors. Hundreds or thousands of calls and emails are sent out in those scams with only some seniors falling into the trap.

Our New York elder law attorneys know that there are different, larger scams that seniors also face. In many ways these individual efforts are far most dangerous because they involve much more than losing a couple hundred or thousand dollars. These bigger efforts can literally involve swindling millions from unsuspecting seniors.

Seniors Remain “Prime Targets” for Scammers, But Scope of Problem Hard to Identify

Published on: May 1, 2012 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Elder care advocates know that senior financial exploitation is a very real, damaging issue. However, even among those working directly on the problem, there is disagreement about how many seniors fall victim to these exploits each year. The underlying problem is that the vast majority of cases are never reported, meaning that estimates about the scope of the problem rely on often unreliable predictions. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that about 13.5% of the entire adult population is the victim of some type of fraud or scam each year. When trying to get a gauge on the effect on seniors specifically, most research focuses on random phone surveys where seniors are asked if they’ve ever lost money in one of those unscrupulous ways.

But are those phone surveys reliable? Many fraud investigators have their doubts.

For example, as discussed recently in the New York Times, a 2011 National Victim Profiling study from the AARP attempted to test the accuracy of phoning seniors and asking about their history with frauds and scams. The research involved calling nearly 800 seniors who were known to have been victims of a scam. The senior names were taken directly from police records across the country. Amazingly, when this group was called, only 40% admitted to having been scammed–resulting in a staggering 60% error rate.