AUGUST 10, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 6 In 1993, Robert Wendland suffered a terrible automobile accident. The California man never recovered sufficiently to communicate, and he was unable to participate in the controversy over the possibility of removing his feeding tube last winter. Wendland, brain-damaged and paralyzed, lived for two years on a feeding tube…

AUGUST 3, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 5 Few nursing home residents have large incomes. Most, of course, are living on retirement and Social Security, and a few may have at least some investment income. Income tax liability will seem like an irrelevant issue for most long-term care residents. Still, income tax issues can be important…

JULY 27, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 4 Diana Marks was a professor at Whitworth College in Washington state, and a devout Christian. Ms. Marks, who had never married and had no children, was particularly close to Eldon and Judith Blanford, who (with her help) organized and operated “Personal Freedom in Christ Ministries,” a religious organization.…

JULY 20, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 3 When General Motors Corporation first began offering health insurance to its retired employees in 1961, it required them to pay a portion of their medical care. By 1968, however, GM was not only paying all the costs of medical insurance for retirees, but was also covering their spouses,…

JULY 13, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 2 Anna Elizabeth Guess lived to the age of 83 on her farm in Cabot, Arkansas. She raised seven children, and had been generous to them on many occasions. In 1989, for example, she gave her son Wayne title to ten acres of her farmland in return for a…

JULY 6, 1998 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 1 Arch and Emily Tucker were a married couple living in Colorado in 1962. That year, they both signed new wills, though Emily’s will could not be found decades later when problems arose. Arch’s will, though, included language reflecting an agreement between the two of them not change their…

JUNE 29, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 52 Adult care homes are usually seen as friendlier, more home-like and more pleasant than nursing homes. Many seniors are well cared for in adult care homes, particularly in the early stages of dementia or chronic illness. Such homes may also be less expensive for residents, with typical costs…

JUNE 22, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 51 A patient in an Arizona nursing home is likely to incur expenses of $3500 to $4000 (or more) per month. For patients who have already paid nursing home expenses for months or years, and who have exhausted their savings, ALTCS, the state’s Medicaid program, usually ends up subsidizing…

JUNE 15, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 50 Thirty-eight million individuals now receive their medical care through the federal Medicare program. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), which manages the Medicare program, is busily preparing a new, $40 million version of its annual handbook for Medicare recipients, which will shortly be available to participants, providers and…

JUNE 8, 1998 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 49 Martha Travers and her husband Richard Travers decided to get divorced after twenty years of marriage. The Phoenix couple was relatively well-off, and (through their lawyers) they agreed that Martha Travers should receive a monthly income designed to represent her interest in the common property plus any right…