Update on Social Security and Medicare
    The federal government has issued annual updates on the financial soundness of Social Security and Medicare, stating that each government benefit program will run out of money within the next 8 to 16 years or so. Here’s the latest news.     For the first time since
A Family Story of a Different Sort
               Most of the stories I write about involve parents helping out their adult children and how that might affect their own finances, especially when they need long term care. As a result of divorce, losing a job, having special needs that restricts or prevents the ability to earn a
Social Security and Student Loans – Part 2
    Last week I wrote about Social Security recipients who are delinquent on their student loans, an increasing problem as the population continues to age. For disabled and retired student loan borrowers, if they fall behind on student loan payments Social Security can garnish their checks – hold
Social Security and Student Loans
    The rising cost of higher education continues to be a problem. As annual college tuition increases outpace the rate of inflation so does the amount of money borrowed by attendees. Much has been written about the mountain of debt faced by college graduates who once out in
Lack of Verification – Worse than a Medicaid Penalty (Part 2)
    In last week’s post, I was talking about how Medicaid eligibility hinges in large part on the State’s scrutiny of 5 years of records under Medicaid’s look back period. Transfers of money out of the applicant’s accounts for less than fair value trigger a Medicaid penalty or
Lack of Verification – Worse than a Medicaid Penalty? Part 1
    Whenever we are preparing to file a Medicaid application on behalf of a client we closely examine the 5 years of records that we will need to provide to the State together with the 16 page application. Those records include every statement for every asset the client
The Biggest Misconception about ALFs and Medicaid (Part 3)
    The last two weeks I have been talking about the biggest misconception about assisted living facilities and Medicaid so let’s continue.     I explained to Carol the issue with level of care – that her mom must establish the need for nursing home level care even
The Biggest Misconception about Assisted Living Facilities and Medicaid (Part 2)
               Last week we were discussing Carol, her mom and a very common disconnect we see when families speak with assisted living facilities. The facility explained its requirement that residents must private pay for a certain period before being considered for one of its Medicaid slots. Carol, however, heard something
The Biggest Misconception about ALFs and Medicaid – Part 1
    I wrote about this 5 years ago, but it still is one of the most common misconceptions families have about the ability to qualify for Medicaid in an assisted living facility. Let’s look at the following very common scenario. Mom can no longer live at home alone.Â
New Medicare ID Cards
     In an effort to prevent fraud, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has redesigned Medicare cards. The cards are still red, white and blue but they will no longer contain a Social Security number, gender, signature and other personal information, all of which could compromise the Medicare