There are so many articles coming out right now trying to summarize RyanCare. I've gone straight to my favorite source for all things medical financing - the Kaiser Foundation. Their reports are well researched, and not slanted one way or the other. Just the facts.
Here's their summary of RyanCare. Obviously, being from a...
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Elder Care Workshop Series at Norwell Public Library
Getting older? Taking care of someone who is? Come to this three-part series to learn some helpful tips from local Elder Services professionals.
Wednesday, March 8:
“Who Can Help Me?”
Find out how to access elder services in your community.
Presented by Susan Curtin, Director at Norwell Council on Aging.
“Elder Law 101”
Get to know the basics...
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Gifts and the Five-Year Lookback
I often hear from clients that they “have made gifts in the last five years – but it’s ok, they were all less than $14,000 so they won’t count under the five-year lookback – right?”
Unfortunately, that’s simply not the case. While it IS true that you can give up to $14,000 per year (as...
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Caregiver Contracts – Tax Benefits
If you would like to care for your parents full-time, or close to it, and your parents want to pay you for this, then there are some tax issues that you need to be aware of.
Most importantly, if you are providing hands-on care, making meals, doing the shopping, taking your parents to doctors’ appointments,...
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Nursing Home Care & MassHealth – Eligibility Rules for the Single Person
As you well know, privately paying a nursing home bill is a very costly undertaking. Should you need nursing home care someday, typically Medicare and your supplemental insurance cover up to 100 days. After that, you either privately pay or look to Medicaid (MassHealth) to pay. This post explains the basic MassHealth rules for...
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Couples: Protect Your Assets from the Cost of Nursing Home Care
As you well know, privately paying a nursing home bill is a very costly undertaking. Should you need nursing home care, typically Medicare and your supplemental insurance cover up to 100 days. After that, you either privately pay or look to Medicaid (MassHealth) to pay.
For a married person to receive MassHealth assistance with paying...
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The Single Person: Protecting Your Assets from the Cost of Nursing Home Care
If your loved one is single and would like MassHealth to pay her nursing home bill, then the basic rules are these: (1) She medically requires nursing home level care, (2) she has no more than $2,000 in “countable” assets (that’s money in the bank, retirement accounts, life insurance, etc.), and (3) she has...
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Consider Using a Pooled Trust with MassHealth Nursing Home Planning
If a single person wants MassHealth assistance with paying for nursing home care, but has more than the $2,000 in assets that MassHealth will permit her to keep, one option is to transfer the excess assets to a pooled trust.
A pooled trust is a trust managed by a non-profit for the benefit of disabled...
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Testifying at the State House
Last week, I headed to the State House to once again testify on bills that could plug some holes in the MassHealth nursing home payment system and make things a bit easier for families caring for frail elders.
The shorthand for this bill is the "transfer of assets" bill. It comes down to...
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Is Your Spouse Moving to a Nursing Home? Are You Scared of Using up Your Savings on the Nursing Home Bill?
When one member of a couple needs nursing home care, and if you are asking MassHealth to assist with the monthly bill, then the healthy spouse at home may keep only $113,640 in liquid assets, in addition to her home. For a younger spouse with many years ahead of her, reducing her liquid assets...
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