By Kathleen Michalak
“Live long and prosper” is a blessing made famous by the TV series Star Trek.
But living a long life can be a mixed blessing, when care needs increase, and finances decrease.
When assets are depleted, Medicaid is a safety net you want to look into. It often covers the cost of long-term care either in nursing homes or in the community. Continue reading
By Lara Schneider-Bomzer
Have you ever been on the phone with a friend living in another state and the topic of long term care health needs comes up?
About once a week the topic of spousal liability creeps its way into a client meeting or a telephone conference. Despite the question being posed to me in various different ways, the issue simply boils down to whether one spouse is liable for another spouse’s debt. I, oftentimes, respond to the question with a question of my own, “what is the debt for?”
Our law provides that, “any purchase made by either a husband or wife in his or her own name shall be presumed, in the absence of notice to the contrary, to be made by him or her as an individual and he or she shall be liable for the purchase.”
So, the general rule is that when one spouse purchases something, only he or she is liable for that purchase.
There are, not surprisingly, exceptions to the general rule. There is a Connecticut General Statute providing that spouses are jointly liable for the following: Continue reading
Going to a nursing home is hard enough, imagine being evicted?
Good news. There are laws in place to prevent that from happening.
Within a nursing home, just like any other place you call home, you are entitled to certain rights. These rights include not being able to be evicted for any reason beyond the six listed in the United States’ Code:
(1) The discharge is necessary for the resident’s welfare and his or her needs cannot be met in the facility.
(2) The resident’s health has improved and no longer needs the facility’s services.
(3) The resident is endangering the safety of others.
(4) The resident is endangering the health of others.
(5) The resident has failed to pay for (or to have paid under Medicare or Medicaid) a stay at the facility.
(6) The facility ceases to operate.
Maintaining control over medical care can be challenging in the best circumstances, but we face even more layers of complexity when dealing with the physical and emotional challenges of serious, life-limiting illness or advanced progressive frailty.
Whether you are concerned about ensuring that your own care goes as you intend, or want to protect and respect the wishes of a loved one, there is a relatively new type of medical form – the Connecticut MOLST form – that may help provide some peace of mind.
In a recent post we talked about the eligibility requirements for Medicaid and the various Medicaid planning strategies.
But how do you actually apply for Medicaid?
If your situation is simple – say you have one bank account, never been married, don’t own a home and you live on your Social Security check – it’s a matter of filling out the application and sending it to the Department of Social Services with some basic documentation.
That situation is rare, however.
Many of us have a much more complicated lifestyle and portfolio. And when this is the case, you have to be extremely careful when applying for Medicaid. Continue reading
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