Purchase of Life Interest Does Not Gain Medicaid Coverage
JULY 7, 2003 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 1 Qualifying a family member for Medicaid assistance with the cost of nursing home care can be complicated. When Pat Monroe’s mother went into a nursing home in Arkansas, Ms. Monroe had a clever idea: she had her mother buy an interest in her own home. Unfortunately for her […]
State High Court Counts Husband’s Trust As Available Resource
APRIL 14, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 41 Almost every state is facing a serious budget crisis in the current economy, and Kansas is no exception. Kansas’ governor projects a $750 million shortfall in the coming year. Last month the Kansas Supreme Court did what it could to help by deciding that Mary Miller would not […]
Medicaid Eligibility Choices May Require Expert Advice
MARCH 10, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 36 Last week Elder Law Issues described Florida resident Josephine Green’s efforts to qualify her sister Stella Thompson for Medicaid assistance with nursing home costs. Having Ms. Thompson buy an interest in Ms. Green’s condominium was not a successful strategy. Ms. Thompson, you might recall, had about $20,000 too […]
Purchase of Life Estate Does Not Gain Medicaid Eligibility
MARCH 3, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 35 Stella Thompson was living alone in Virginia when she developed a serious leg infection requiring that she be admitted to a nursing home. Her sister Josephine Greene moved her to Florida, into a nursing home near Ms. Greene’s home, and applied for Medicaid assistance with the cost of […]
Claim Against Estate Offset By Tobacco Company Litigation
JANUARY 6, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 27 Beginning in the mid-1990s many states filed litigation against major tobacco companies (or joined existing litigation) seeking reimbursement for the some of the costs of treating smokers. After those lawsuits resulted in recovery of $1.3 billion for the states, a number of smokers (and the families of deceased […]
Fund Earmarked For Nursing Homes Frozen In Budget Crisis
DECEMBER 9, 2002 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 23 Nursing home operators, often joined by advocates of better care for seniors and the disabled, have maintained that government-set payment rates for nursing homes are inadequate to ensure quality care. Most of the focus of those complaints falls on Medicaid reimbursement rates and, to a lesser extent, Medicare […]
Medicaid Entitled to Recover From Pain and Suffering Claim
NOVEMBER 11, 2002 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 19 Medicaid, the federal/state partnership program providing medical care for disabled indigents, covers medical care regardless of the cause of the beneficiary’s illness or injury. A Medicaid recipient may file a lawsuit against the person causing an injury for which the beneficiary is receiving Medicaid benefits. In such a […]
Federal Court Approves State’s Medicaid Drug Savings Plan
SEPTEMBER 23, 2002 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 12 Like other states, Florida is experiencing runaway cost increases in Medicaid, the federal/state program which provides medical care for the poor. One particular area of concern has been the cost of prescription drugs (unlike the Medicare program, Medicaid covers medication costs). Last year the Florida legislature took steps […]
Failure to Claim Share of Estate Results In Medicaid Ineligibility
SEPTEMBER 2, 2002 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 9 Medicaid, the federal-state program which pays for about half of all nursing home care in the United States, is governed by eligibility rules intended to discourage applicants from making gifts as a way of qualifying. For example, Medicaid penalizes most gifts for a period up to three years—though […]
Medicaid Eligibility Lost After Recipient Moves From District
JULY 15, 2002 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 2 Although many of the legal problems facing the elderly and the disabled are addressed through state laws, the underlying problems are regional, national or even universal. Though the national medical program for the elderly and disabled, Medicaid, is partially funded and broad guidelines set by the federal government, […]
