7th
Annual Professional Update Scheduled
in
Wilkes-Barre
for
May 8th
The
Elder Law Firm of Marshall & Associates will soon be presenting its 7th
Annual Elder Law Update. This
year our topic is: Caring
For the Elderly, A Crisis in
America
.
Among this year's speakers will be Robert
Rosenberger, President of the Greater Pennsylvania Alzheimer's
Association and Ron D. Hill,
head of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare's Estate Recovery
Program. In addition,
attendees will get an update of important new legal developments by
Certified Elder Law Attorney Jeff
Marshall. And you can get
those confusing Medicaid questions answered at our popular Question and
Answer Session.
The
professional update is FREE
and open to social workers, financial
planners, and other elder care network professionals.
Make
your reservation today!
Call
1-800-401-4552
or register on-line at www.paelderlaw.com
(please
include you name, address, phone number and date of event
in
the comment section and click "submit")
Date
& Time of the 2003 Update
Thursday,
May 8th,
7:30 AM to 12:00 PM
The
Woodlands,
Wilkes-Barre
The
Dawning of the Age of HIPAA
Written
By: Attorney
Jeffrey
A. Marshall
,
CELA *
What
is a HIPAA? Is it (A) a
female hippopotamus, (B) a horrible new disease, or (C) new federal
regulations, effective on April 14th, which protect the privacy rights of
patients? Well, if you
answered (C) federal regulations covering patient privacy, you're
correct, and you have probably visited your doctor's office in the last
several weeks.
The privacy
rules of HIPAA give patients the right to view, get copies of, and limit
access to their patient records. Patients
can file complaints if they feel that a health care provider has violated
their privacy rights. Doctors,
hospitals, and other health care providers can face fines and prison terms
if they flagrantly violate the HIPAA regulations, and therefore, they are
very much concerned with staying on the right side of these new legal
requirements.
HIPAA puts
restrictions on who has access to your medical information. If you are
admitted to a nursing home and you don't want anyone to know it, the
nursing home is not allowed to tell anyone --not even your family,
friends, or clergy.
HIPAA is
creating a lot of additional work for health care providers.
Patients going in for a doctor's appointment can anticipate being
presented with lots of paperwork about the doctor's privacy policies and
asking for consent to use patient information.
The sale of paper shredders and locking file cabinets must be
skyrocketing!
HIPAA was
enacted in 1996 and it has taken all these years to devise and implement
the regulations. The privacy
rules initially required patients to give written consent for the release
of all medical information. But, after much protest by health care
providers, the final rules establish broad exemptions allowing the sharing
of patient information for purposes of treatment, payment and certain
health care operations.
If you ever
become incapacitated as a result of an accident or illness, the HIPAA
rules allow your medical information to be disclosed to your authorized
representative, such as the person you named as your agent in your health
care power of attorney. If
you don't have a health care power of attorney, this is just one more
reason why you should get one. With
a health care power of attorney, you name someone to make medical
decisions for you anytime you can't make them for yourself.
The regulations
are so complicated that confusion is widespread.
Nevertheless, health care providers, patients, and families and
friends of patients will have to do their best to deal with them.
More
information on HIPAA is available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/
.
Report
Looks at Decision to Buy Long-Term Care Insurance
Written
By: Attorney
Jeffrey
A. Marshall
,
CELA*
Despite
growing interest in private long-term care insurance (LTCI), and increases
in the sales of policies, there has been little independent examination of
how much protection LTCI policies provide consumers or whether LTCI
policies are a worthwhile purchase for people of average means. A March
2003 report by The Kaiser Family
Foundation examines the affordability of LTCI for older people, what
kind of policies make sense for seniors, and whether there are less costly
products that might reach more buyers and still provide some meaningful
protection.
About 4 million
Americans had LTCI in 2000.The major market for LTCI continues to be
relatively affluent elderly or near elderly people who want to preserve
their estates from the cost of long term illness. To encourage the
purchase of LTCI, the Bush Administration has proposed expanded tax
incentives, although questions still remain as to whether private LTCI is
a realistic alternative for middle-income individuals and families.
The report also
looks at the possible benefits of LTCI for younger, working-age families.
It reports on factors such as, the number of families that can
afford LTCI, whether it is a sensible investment for people who are likely
to be decades away from requiring long-term care, and how LTCI policies
can be made more flexible to keep pace with changes in long-term care
delivery and financing.
The Kaiser
report, Private Long Term Care
Insurance is available online at: http://www.kff.org/topics.cgi?topic=ltc
Misconception
#6:
I
have to give away everything I own before I can qualify for Medicaid
Here
is the next installment in our discussion of some of the most prevalent
misconceptions about Medicaid and the rules for payment of nursing home
costs. If you would like to read past Medicaid Misconceptions, check out
our website at: www.paelderlaw.com.
Misconception
#6:
I
have to give away everything I own before I can qualify for Medicaid
The
Truth:
Medicaid allows you to continue to own many kinds of assets,
including your home, and still qualify.
These protected resources are referred to as "unavailable" or
"non-countable." You get to keep your non-countable assets.
But you need to be careful. Without
proper planning, the state may be able to seek repayment from the sale of
your home or other assets after your death. The rules are very complicated
and most people need expert help to figure out how to get to keep
everything to which they are entitled to during their lifetime, and avoid
state claims at death.
Did
you know. past issues of the Elder Care Law Alert are available on our
website at:
www.paelderlaw.com/news.html
Do
you have a friend or colleague who would enjoy reading the
Elder Care Law Alert? If
so, please feel free to forward it to them. Simply use the "Forward"
button on your e-mail program.
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the Elder Care Law Alert,
simply
send a request to:
webmail@paelderlaw.com
*Attorney
Marshall
is
certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation
under authorization from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
© 2000-2005
Marshall & Associates www.paelderlaw.com
