Law Office of Donald D. Vanarelli Blog

Social Security statements now are advising recipients that Medicare does not cover long-term care expenses. The Social Security Administration recently changed the wording of its annual earnings statements at the direction of Congress to make it clear that individuals need to plan for the possibility they might eventually need long-term care. The new wording follows: [...]

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Nursing homes will get a “star rating” from the federal government to help consumers pick the best facilities. It is expected that this sweeping governmental initiative may create “peer pressure” among owners to improve care. The ratings, from a low of one star to a high of five, will be posted starting in December 2008 [...]

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In a ruling that overturned close to 30 years of legal precedent in the area of family law as well as an appeals court decision that said there is no basis for a palimony suit unless a couple lived together, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently ruled that judges should consider the “entirety” of a [...]

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A recent article in the NJ Lawyer newspaper examined the safeguards in federal and state law designed to protect elderly, infirm and disabled nursing home residents from involuntary transfers or discharges from their care facilities. According to federal law, a nursing home can discharge a resident only for the following reasons: The resident’s health has [...]

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Processing times for Social Security determinations have reached intolerable levels. For instance, the average processing time for cases at the hearing level has increased dramatically since 2000, when the average time was 274 days. In the current fiscal year, SSA estimates that the average processing time for disability claims at the hearing level will be [...]

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A recent article in the Lawyers USA newspaper discussed the growing use of elder mediation to resolve family disputes. The article quoted several practitioners of elder mediation, including the owner of this weblog, on their practice specialties and the use of elder mediation as part of an elder law practice when family disagreements arise. One [...]

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A federal district court in Illinois denied the state Medicaid agency’s motion for summary judgment in a case testing whether a man with severe disabilities can receive care at home under the state’s Medicaid waiver program rather than in a nursing home. Grooms v. Marah (N.D.Ill., No 06 C 2211, May 30, 2008). David Grooms, [...]

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The June 6, 2008 edition of the Wall Street Journal included an interesting article entitled “Separate Peace.” It espoused the benefits of divorce mediation and collaborative divorce, particularly where children were involved. Although the article criticized the approach of “normalizing” divorce found in both mediation and collaborative divorce, which the author believed could lead couples [...]

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The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (“DRA”) authorized the expansion of the Long Term Care Insurance Partnership Program into the various states. New Jersey’s Long Term Care insurance Partnership Program was approved by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) on February 12, 2008 and will become effective on July 1, 2008. Under this [...]

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Many states are now giving Medicaid-eligible seniors a monthly stipend they can use to hire family, friends and/or professionals to care for them at home. The program, called Cash and Counseling, already exists in 15 states and is expected to be implemented soon in 18 more. Cash and Counseling offers Medicaid consumers who have disabilities [...]

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