Did you know that nursing home care is not the only program that the VA offers to its Veterans? Other services that the VA will help pay for include geriatric evaluations, respite care, adult day care, home-based care and hospice care. If the Veteran has a 50% or more service connected disability rating, the care is free. It may also be free if the
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Tampa Attorney, Laurie Ohall, was named one of three instructional speakers at the upcoming National Business Institute Seminar “What Every Attorney Needs to Know About Medicaid, Medicare and Long-Term Care” on January 25, 2012. About the Course: Understand How the Public Benefits System Affects Your Practice Barbara and Bill have been married for 40 years. Bill is a Korean War veteran. He starts developing
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A new American Dream that is less conventional and more personalized is emerging, according to the fifth annual MetLife Study of the American Dream. Specifically stated within the nationwide survey is a look at attitudes toward financial safety nets. A financial safety net includes savings to cover living expenses in the event of illness, job loss, or other serious emergency, as well as financial
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Some good news for Seniors Social Security announced a 3.6 percent increase in benefits for 2012. This is the first cost-of-living increase since 2009. What does that mean to you? If you are receiving social security, your increase will start with checks issued in January, 2012. The average recipient receives $1,175 per month according to the Social Security Administration, and the benefit could increase
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President Obama signed the Veteran’s Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2011 on November 9, 2011 which increases the rates of veterans’ disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children. The COLA increase will be the same as Social Security, which is 3.6%. Attorney Laurie Ohall works with Veterans and
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As the number of family members providing care for aging parents increases, the solutions to find help with loss of income because of time off from employment for caregiving has become a major concern for many. The demands on both the time and energy needed to provide the needed care can make it impossible to maintain both a full time job with full time
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I had a phone call today from a lady who was concerned about some “Medicaid planning” she had received through a non-elder law attorney firm. The nursing home in which her father resided had suggested she go to this firm of non-attorneys to discuss obtaining Medicaid qualification for her father. These people call themselves “Medicaid eligibility specialists” (an attorney cannot call themselves an expert
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I am a big advocate of using geriatric care managers to help families, especially when the elder’s children live out of state or far away. A geriatric care manager (GCM) can help families cope with the challenges such as helping the family to identify problems or assistance which the elder may need, helping to arrange for in-home help or services, offering crisis intervention, making
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Medicaid Managed Care in Florida A recent article published by the News Service of Florida points out that new Florida legislation enacted to “improve” care for seniors, will actually lead to more of the same…a wait list for the elderly in Florida. The Medicaid Managed Care program has been touted as helping florida seniors, and already they are talking about the wait lists that
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How important is social support as a person ages? This may seem like an easy question to answer. Most people would not choose isolation and loneliness versus spending time with companions. However, can lack of social support really hinder a person’s overall quality of life? Lack of social support is related to negative impacts on health and well being, especially for older people. Having
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