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Government
Provides Details Regarding Prescription Drug Low Income Credit
Written By:
Attorney Jeffrey A. Marshall
, CELA*
Beginning
in June, Medicare beneficiaries who have low incomes but do not have other
drug coverage may be able to qualify for a $600 credit towards the cost of
their prescription drugs.
In 2004, the qualifying income level will be $12,569 or less for
individuals and $16,862 for couples.
The Government Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has
published the following directions to be used to determine what
constitutes income for purposes of qualifying for the credit:
The following
sources of income should be included when calculating your income
for your $600 credit enrollment form:
üEmployee
compensation (salary, wages,
tips, bonuses, awards, etc.)
üUnemployment
compensation
üPensions
and annuities
üSocial
Security benefits (including
Social Security Equivalent portion of RR Retirement)
üRailroad
Retirement benefits
üVeterans
Affairs (VA) benefits
üMilitary
and government disability pensions -
armed forces, Public Health
Service (PHS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Foreign Service (based on date pension began, combat-related
pension, etc.)
üIndividual
Retirement Account (IRA) distributions
üInterest
(savings accounts, checking
accounts, etc.)
üOrdinary
dividends (stocks, bonds, etc.)
üRefunds,
credits, or offsets of state and local income taxes
üAlimony
received
üBusiness
income
üCapital
gains
üFarm
income
üRental
real estate, royalties, partnerships, trusts, etc.
üOther
gains (sale or exchange of
business property)
üOther
income (lottery winnings,
awards, prizes, raffles, etc.)
The following
sources of income should not be included when calculating your
income for $600 credit enrollment form:
üInheritances
and gifts (taxed to estate or
giver if not under limits for exemption)
üInterest
on state and local government obligations (e.g.,
bonds)
üWorkers
compensation payments
üFederal
Employees Compensation Act payments
üSupplemental
Security Income (SSI) benefits
üIncome
from national senior service corps programs
üPublic
welfare and other public assistance benefits
üProceeds
from sale of a home
üLump
sum life insurance benefits paid upon death of insured
üLife
insurance benefits paid in installments
üAccelerated
life insurance death benefit payments (e.g.,
viatical settlements, terminal illness, chronic illness)
üMedical
Savings Accounts (MSA) withdrawals for medical expenses
üPayments
from long-term care insurance policies (subject
to limitation)
üAccident
or health insurance policy benefits
üAccident
compensatory damages
üChild
support payments received
üMost
foster care provider payments received
üDisaster
Relief grants
üDisability
payments as the result of a terrorist attack
The $600 annual
credit will only be available for 2004 and 2005.
Source: Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services: www.cms.gov.
Updated
Information About Medicare Changes Available
Written By:
Melissa
Mancini Bottorf
,
Marshall,
Parker & Associates' Director of Public Education
Attorney
Marshall has updated and expanded the information on our website about the
recent dramatic changes in Medicare.
These changes will affect virtually all seniors, yet most of the
public is either confused or unaware of what is taking place.
A recent survey
conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that seniors do not
understand what is going on with Medicare.
While a majority of seniors reported that they closely followed the
Congressional Medicare debate, the poll showed that almost 7 in 10 seniors
do not even know that the new Medicare Act of 2003 has become law.
If you want to
use Attorney's Marshall's updated article to inform your staff,
clients, or the public about the changes in Medicare, we will be happy to
give your our permission. You may download Attorney Marshall's article
on Medicare for any non-profit educational purposes.
We do ask that you reprint it in its entirety, without changes in
its text, and that you properly attribute the article to Attorney Marshall
and retain his copyright notice. For
further information you can contact Melissa, at mbottorf@paelderlaw.com
or at 570-321-9008.
Attorney
Marshall's updated article on the Medicare Changes is available on our
website at the following link: http://www.paelderlaw.com/medicareoverview.html
Findings from
the Kaiser survey is available on the Foundation's website at http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/pomr022604pkg.cfm
.
Credit
Card Fraud Leading Identity Theft Complaint
Written By:
Attorney
Jeffrey A. Marshall
, CELA*
The
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released its annual report on Consumer
Fraud and ID theft. The study, based on over a half million complaints
received by the FTC, highlights the growing signficance of identity theft.
42% of all complaints received by the FTC related to identity (ID)
theft.
The
most common ID theft complaint involved credit card fraud.
Here is the report's listing of the most common forms of identity
theft.
Credit card fraud - 33%
Phone or utilities fraud - 21%
Bank fraud - 17%
Employment-related fraud - 11%
Attempted identity theft - 8%
Government documents or benefits fraud - 8%
Loan fraud - 6%
Other ID theft - 19%
In 2003, the
FTC received 6,545 reports of identity theft from
Pennsylvania
victims. Credit
Card fraud was involved in 36% of those cases.
Excluding
identity theft complaints, the top categories of fraud were as follows:
Internet
auctions - 15%
Shop at home,
catalogs - 9%
Internet
services and computer products - 6%
Prizes/sweepstakes
and lotteries - 5%
Foreign money
offers - 4%
Advance-fee
loans and credit protection - 4%
Telephone
services - 3%
Here is a link
to the Federal Trade Commission Report.
http://www.consumer.gov/sentinel/pubs/Top10Fraud2003.pdf
For some ideas
as to how to protect yourself from identity theft, see our article at the
following link:
http://www.paelderlaw.com/identitytheft.html
Town
Meetings on State Plan on Aging
The
Pennsylvania Department of Aging is working on a state plan that will act
as a guide for the Department for the period 2004-2008.
Secretary of Aging, Nora Dowd Eisenhower has organized a series of
State Plan Town Meetings across the Commonwealth to get input from seniors
and their providers as to what concerns they have and how the new state
plan can address those issues.
The Department
of Aging has worked with directors of local Area Agencies on Aging on
developing some priority issues including the expanding role of home and
community based care, raising public awareness about the services
available to older adults, mental health and metal retardation services
for older Pennsylvanians and the future role of senior centers within the
local community. The
Department is now taking these, and several other issues, on the road to
hear feedback from the public.
Attorney Jeff
Marshall and Public Education Director Melissa Bottorf of
Marshall, Parker & Associates', attended the first Town Meeting
which was held in
South Williamsport
on March 10th.
We found it to be quite valuable and recommend that readers of the Elder
Care Law Alert consider attending one of the upcoming meetings.
Consumers and providers hold separate sessions to discuss their issues and
concerns with key representatives of the Department.
Upcoming town
meetings are scheduled as follows:
Youngwood
Tuesday,
March 16
Westmoreland
County
Community College
400 Armbrust Road
Clarion
Wednesday,
March 17
Main
Street
Center
516 Main Street
Philadelphia
Monday,
March 22
Center in the
Park
5818 Germantown Avenue
Allentown
Wednesday,
March 24
Lehigh
County
Government
Center
17 South Seventh Street
Hazleton
Thursday,
March 25
Hazleton
Senior
Center
24 East Broad
Street
For
more information about the events, please check out the Department of
Aging website at www.aging.pa.us.org.
Also, if you
would like to attend one of the meetings on behalf of the PA Alzheimer's
Association, please contact Estella Parker Killian at estella.killian@alz.org
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 your request to:
webmail@paelderlaw.com
Does
Your Club Or Organization Need A Speaker?
If
you are interested in having an attorney or geriatric planning specialist
from
The
Elder Law Firm of Marshall,
Parker & Associates' speak to your group, or at an
upcoming event, please contact
our
Public Education Coordinator, Melissa
Bottorf
at
mbottorf@paelderlaw.com
or 1-800-401-4552
*Attorney
Marshall
is
certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation
under authorization from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
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