Law Office of Donald D. Vanarelli Blog

In E.S. vs. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, petitioner, a 91 year old nursing home resident, transferred $42,053 to her son after paying the nursing home privately from her savings for two years. The nursing home payments and the gift combined to leave petitioner with no assets, so she applied for Medicaid. The [...]

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This year, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys held its Advanced Institute in Kansas City, Missouri from October 23 - 26. The program-of-events-10-31-08 shows that the presentations at the Institute covered a wide array of subjects. I attended two terrific sessions on the eligibility criteria for Veterans Administration (VA) service-related compensation benefits and non-service [...]

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The nation’s roughly 53 million elderly and disabled Social Security recipients will get their biggest pay hike since 1982 — a 5.8 percent cost of living increase in payments in 2009. This is expected to raise the average monthly payment for the typical beneficiary by $63. The 2009 increase is up from the 2.3 percent [...]

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As I reported in a May 22, 2008 blog posting several months ago, I received a denial notice from the Middlesex County welfare agency in a case in which the applicant’s Medicaid eligibility plan involved making a loan to a relative. The borrowing relative signed a promissory note agreeing to repay the note in monthly installments, including [...]

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Updated Figures for 2009.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)  has released the community spouse resource allowance and the maximum monthly maintenance needs allowance for 2009. The new minimum CSRA is $21,912 and the new maximum is $109,560. The new maximum monthly maintenance needs allowance is $2,739. The minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance remains [...]

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Many people continue to work beyond retirement age, either by choice or out of necessity. But if you are receiving Social Security benefits, working may affect your benefit payments. Earning income above Social Security thresholds can cause a reduction in benefits and mean your benefits will be taxed. 

If you work and are “full retirement age” [...]

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The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that until a patient is formally admitted to a hospital as an inpatient, the clock does not begin to run on Medicare’s three-day hospital stay requirement to qualify for skilled nursing facility coverage. estate-of-landers-v-leavitt (2nd Cir., No. 06-4921-cv, Oct. 1, 2008).

 
Marion Landers, along with several other Medicare [...]

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An article in the October 9th edition of The Wall Street Journal discussed estate planning for disabled children and adults with special needs.

According to the WSJ, more than 41 million Americans, or almost 15% of the population, have some type of disability. In addition, 6.2% of children ages 5 to 15, or 2.8 million [...]

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A final rule that would allow more Medicaid beneficiaries to be in charge of their own personal assistance services, including personal care services, instead of having those services directed by an agency, was announced on September 29, 2008 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The rule guides states who wish to allow [...]

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A New York appeals court held that a community spouse is entitled to an increased minimum monthly maintenance needs allowance (MMMNA) because her basic monthly expenses are almost double her monthly income and therefore qualify as “exceptional circumstances” necessitating access to her husband’s income. Matter of Balzarini v. Suffolk County Dept. of Social Servs. (N.Y. [...]

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