Whether Medicare will pay for skilled nursing facility services depends upon if the patient needs a “skilled level of care” on a daily basis.  Generally, a skilled level of care is defined to mean the patient needs and will benefit from physical therapy, speech therapy and other such rehab. servi...

Medicare Part A will pay for part of up to 100 days of skilled nursing care per spell of illness in a nursing home or inpatient rehabilitation center.  In addition to meeting the basic eligibility requirements for Medicare detailed in the earlier posts in this series, there are three other requir...

When an elderly person is admitted to the hospital, it's a stressful event.  A situation that can compound that stress is if the hospital wants to discharge your older parent or other loved one before you feel they are ready to be discharged.  Hospital discharge issues tend to occur more after un...

Medicare Part A provides health care coverage for care in hospitals as well skilled care in nursing home or rehabilitation centers.  Medicare Part A also provides coverage for care provided in hospice facilities and certain home health care services. An important distinction to note is that Medi...

After practicing elder law for 15 years, I have found that my prospective clients and their families continue to be mystified by the Medicare program and what it does and does not cover.  As such, this is the first in a series of blog posts that I hope will be useful in explaining the Medicare pr...

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Aid and Attendance program can be an excellent option for older wartime veterans and their widows.  Among other requirements, there are four tests to qualify for Aid and Attendance, including military service, medical status, asset level, inco...

Long-term care is expensive.  Nursing homes in Michigan cost, an average, $227 per day or $6,816 per month for a semi-private room.  Assisted living in the metro-Detroit area cost, an average, $114 per day or $3,425 per month.  Home health aides cost, an average, $19 per hour. Long-term care ins...

As an elder care attorney, I frequently meet with the adult children of a senior who has been hospitalized and is about to be discharged to a nursing home or has recently moved into a nursing home.  In these meetings, a common situation I see is that one of the adult children, frequently a daught...

In my last post, I wrote about what you do with the home of a nursing home resident in a crisis Medicaid plan.  A crisis Medicaid plan is planning that is done when an older person's move to a nursing home is imminent or after they have already moved to a nursing home.  While I, as an elder care ...

Many people are aware that an older person who is a nursing home resident can continue to own a home and qualify for Medicaid nursing home benefits.  Nevertheless, in assisting people in my elder care practice with paying for nursing home care, I have seen that the home is often the major asset a...

The VA Aid and Attendance benefit is one of the best options for older wartime veterans or their widows who need elder care assistance. Long term care is expensive, and the receipt of these veterans services can help avoid the high costs of nursing home care, assisted living, or home care in dep...

As an elder law attorney who assists seniors and their families with Medicaid eligibility, I am frequently called on to review Medicaid nursing home applications that have been denied.  Since most people who need to move to a nursing home and apply for Medicaid are the frail elderly, often age 80...

There is good news for older veterans and their surviving spouses who rely upon Aid and Attendance to pay for their home care, assisted living, and nursing home costs.  The amounts veterans and their surviving spouses receive in Aid and Attendance will increase in January 2012. The U.S. Departme...

As an elder law attorney practicing in Oakland County, I am often asked “what's the difference between a nursing home and assisted living facility?”  The difference in the appearance between the two types of facilities can be dramatic, because nursing homes tend to be more hospital like.  A nurs...

A recent report finds what many of us working with older people and their families already know, which is the cost of nursing home care continues to rise.  MetLife's Mature Market Institute's 2011 survey determined that the statewide average cost of a semi-private room in a Michigan nursing home ...

Michigan's new estate recovery law will most likely affect the home.  The reason for this is the home is the major non-countable asset a nursing home resident can own while qualifying for Medicaid nursing home benefits.  However, the state will not seek to recover against the home in some circums...

A controversial topic in the news in our state this year was Governor Snyder's proposal to reduce the exemption of pensions and other retirement income from Michigan's income tax.  That topic was of great interest to seniors and other older people living on a fixed income who were understandably ...

Governor Snyder signed a tax reform bill into law on May 26, 2011, that will result in the income taxation of certain retirement income, reducing the favorable exemption from taxation previously afforded to most retirement income under Michigan law. Though the change is technically a reduction in...

Many people are aware that they can make gifts of $13,000 per year without any negative tax issues.  This is the federal gift tax annual exclusion amount.  What is less understood is that this federal gift tax law conflicts with the federal Medicaid laws and, in this situation, the Medicaid law c...

As an elder law attorney who focuses on Medicaid qualification, I frequently encounter people who have only been told what they cannot do when qualifying for Medicaid.  This incomplete information leads to many misconceptions about what can be done when an older person needs to move to a nursing ...

Case Study: Medicaid Planning for Married People, Part 2 One of the most common mistakes people make with Medicaid qualification in Michigan is assuming the government will help them protect their assets.  Unless a nursing home resident is already eligible for Medicaid, another key mistake is re...

With married couples, when one spouse requires nursing home care, it can be an extremely difficult situation due to both financial concerns and the sad situation of seeing your spouse's health decline.  Consider a hypothetical married couple, with a husband will call Ralph and his wife, whom we w...

Division of Assets is the name commonly used for the Spousal Impoverishment provisions of the Medicare Catastrophic Act of 1988. This is a federal law that applies only to couples. The intent of the law was to change the eligibility requirements for Medicaid where one spouse needs nursing home ca...

Some Common Questions I've added my kids' names to our bank account. Do they still count? Yes. The entire amount is considered 100% available to the person applying for Medicaid unless you can prove some or all of the money was contributed by the other person who is on the account. This rule ap...

Unavailable Assets and Medicaid Some assets are considered "unavailable" by Michigan's Department of Human Services when qualifying for Medicaid. This means you can keep these assets and qualify for Medicaid nursing home benefits. These are usually going to be assets registered in certain types ...