ELDER LAW
The high cost of long-term care has made planning a critically important issue for most middle class seniors and their families. In fact, most seniors will likely require some form of long-term care. Sadly, many of them are unprepared for the significant financial burdens it places on their family's hard earned savings. Financial devastation looms large for a family facing ongoing care at a rate of $10,000 or more per month.
The Pittsburgh elder law firm of Marks Elder Law has the experience and the expertise to help avoid the financial ruin associated with the high cost of long-term care.
If you are interested in meeting with an elder law attorney in Pittsburgh, contact Marks Elder Law today to start the process of understanding the issues surrounding Medicaid eligibility and to implement the planning and application process.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Associates in Elder Law, practicing Elder Law means meeting all the typical legal needs of elderly and disabled clients. More specifically, Elder Law often means planning and fighting to accomplish three principal goals:
- First, to secure needed high quality health care services and benefits for elderly and disabled patients;
- Second, to minimize the costs to you and your family, so that you keep as much of your own money as possible; and,
- Third, to take care of your general estate planning needs, such as Wills or Powers of Attorney, admission agreements or contracts, and other legal needs.
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An elder law attorney has the training and experience to help you to obtain needed care as the first priority, and also save money at the same time. No one else in our system of long-term care wants you to know about the steps that can be taken to protect yourself. Nursing homes and government agencies want you to spend all of your own money first.
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Associates in Elder Law we almost always represent the patient who needs care and services and their spouse, rather than the patients children or other family members, though we often work with their children on their behalf. Representing the parent, or patient, makes the most sense, by far, ethically, and makes it clear that we work to serve their best interest
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Long-term care is care provided for persons with chronic illness or disability for a lengthy, indefinite or permanent period of time. It includes custodial or residential care in a facility , institution or in a private home. It is different from a short-term stay for recovery or rehabilitation from a temporary illness or injury
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- Use your own money to pay on a private pay or self pay basis;
- Pay with benefits from a private long-term care insurance policy that you purchased in advance; or
- Pay with benefits from a government program, such as Medicare, Medicaid, VA benefits, etc.
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Medicare is a Federal government entitlement program that accompanies Social Security, and that generally pays for doctors and hospitals, and, beginning in 2006, for prescription drugs. Medicare does not pay for long-term custodial care. Medicare only pays for temporary stays in a nursing home for rehabilitation or recovery after an illness or injury, only following a qualifying stay in a hospital, and within certain limits.
Medicaid is a combined State and Federal government benefit program for people who cannot pay for certain kinds of needed health care for themselves. You must apply for and qualify to be eligible for Medicaid based on factors including your assets and income. Medicaid can pay for long-term nursing home care but does not pay for lesser levels of care, such as assisted living. As Medicaid is often the only benefit available to pay for the costliest levels of care, our planning is often directed toward Medicaid eligibility to pay for nursing care
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A key question: the Medicaid laws and rules require that you spend almost all of your own money first, before you are eligible for Medicaid to pay for your care. However, with proper planning, families can often keep more of their savings and assets, than without planning. Changes in Medicaid law in February 2006 made it more difficult to keep and protect your savings. Close
While planning for patients and spouses to obtain needed care, we also try to protect other family members from liability for payment. If you are not eligible for Medicaid benefits, your children often must help pay for their parents care voluntarily, from their own assets and savings. Pennsylvania has recently taken steps to try to require that children pay for their parents care but the future of such attempts is unknown.
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Long-term care insurance is a private insurance policy that will pay benefits for long-term care or custodial care. Not all policies are the same; you can buy a basic policy or you can buy a better policy that pays more or covers more. Policies can pay benefits for different levels of care skilled nursing care, assisted living or personal care residence, or for care and services in your home.
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The younger you are when you buy it, the lower the premium will be. The cost depends on the specific features of the policy that you buy and on your age. Policy features that determine the cost include the benefit amount and how long the benefits are paid. Extra features like inflation protection or return of premiums can add to the cost.
Close You can. Married couples do not have to spend all of their money on care for the spouse who is ill. Medicaid rules say how much of the couples resources can be kept: for the spouse who is not ill and is still living at home (community spouse); and how much a couple must spend for the care of the spouse who is ill (the institutional spouse).
Close To receive Medicaid benefits, a married couple must spend one half of their available resources (as determined by Medicaid rules) for the spouse needing care; and can keep one-half for the spouse living at home, subject to a minimum of approximately $19,000, and a maximum of approximately $90,000 subject to further adjustments. One goal of elder law planning if often to maximize the amount a husband or wife can keep..
Close Usually, the only time that they may take someone money is after a Medicaid patient has died. Under a program called Estate Recovery, Medicaid has a claim to be reimbursed the amount of benefits paid during the patients lifetime, but only from the patients probate estate assets. Non-probate assets that pass by joint ownership with right of survivorship, or to a pay-on-death beneficiary, outside of probate, are not subject to the claim (see our
Estate Administration brochure for definitions and details of this.).
CloseA distinct current trend is for government to increase funding for home and community-based services in order to provide skilled nursing and other care for patients in their own homes. This is a win-win situation the patient gets to stay at home, where almost everyone prefers to be, and the care costs less than residential care in a nursing home, both for the patient and for the benefits or care provider.
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