News
“A survey by Bankrate.com shows what Americans are worried about most when it comes to retirement. As Anthony Mason reports, affording health insurance is a major concern.”
The Medicaid program has rules that can help you protect your assets, but the bureaucrats running the program are not allowed to help give you advice to take advantage of them. Much like the tax code. If you want to maximize your savings, you can’t rely on the IRS to do it for you. So […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have given us the new annual spousal impoverishment figures for 2017. In turn, we like to give our friends a FREE 2017 Medicaid Planning Desk Reference. The full numbers are contained in the Desk Reference, which you can download for free by clicking the link at the […]
The final rule affecting Skilled Nursing Facilities that accept Medicaid takes effect November 28, 2016, with one exception. The provision banning arbitration provisions from nursing home admissions contracts is on hold and CMS is temporarily enjoined from enacting the ban by a federal district court. For a full copy of the final rule, click here. […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) – the government entity that runs Medicare and Medicaid – has proposed a rule change that takes effect this month. For the first time, it bans pre-dispute arbitration clauses from nursing home admissions contracts. As you can imagine, elder advocates are applauding the return of the right […]
In what had been heralded as a major shift in federal public policy, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new rule, to take effect on November 28, that would prohibit pre-dispute arbitration clauses in nursing home admissions contracts. Because these provisions are so prevalent, they have functionally taken away a nursing […]
A recent suit was brought in Kansas over long delays in the Medicaid eligibility determination process. The suit was brought by a chain of nursing homes that has suffered as a result of the delays in processing long-term care Medicaid cases. At issue is the complex and lengthy asset and income verification process. Part of […]
The Kaiser Family Foundation released its 16th annual Medicaid state budget survey. Trends show more states are planning to either close or downsize state institutions and shift patients to Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) as a way to curb state Medicaid spending. For more details on the foundation’s findings and to access the full […]
A Connecticut court overturned a Medicaid transfer penalty after it had been imposed by the Medicaid department and upheld at an administrative fair hearing. The case involves a 1990 joint purchase of a home and the later transfer of the applicant’s share of the home. At issue was weather the recipient of the transfer had […]
Illinois has a long history of using delays in Medicaid payments for long-term care as a budget maneuver to manage the state’s horrible cash flow situation. Recently, a nursing home wrote to the Illinois governor complaining that if delays continued, it would lead to the nursing home’s closure. For more information, click here.
The US Court of appeals ruled against the application of retroactive benefits for Assisted Living Waiver applicants. In most nursing home settings a patient is allowed to seek retroactive benefits for up to 3 months from the date of application if they are considered eligible during those months. Because of lax waiver rules, the court […]
In a ranking based on reported deficiencies, Alaskan nursing homes are considered the the fourth worst in the country. But Alaskans take exception to this considering their state only has 18 nursing homes. With such a low number and low turnover of inspectors, there is the perception that the inspection system is likely to pick […]