Even more real is the danger posed by many caregivers who seek to take financial advantage. Retired emeritus professor John Wilson (not his real name) needed supplemental care in his life care community. He came to rely upon and trust a caregiver who was with him 40 hours per week. His trust was misplaced.

Over the period of two months, she used his credit card, had him sign checks made out to her for thousands of dollars, and forged his signature on other checks to pay for items that she purchased. In a short time, losses exceeded $60,000.

Professor Wilson was fortunate in that his care and finances were being monitored. The caregiver was fired, the agency reimbursed a portion of the funds, and other funds were recovered by other means. All estimates are that millions of dependent older Americans are victimized by this form of financial abuse every year.

To address, to reduce the possibility of financial elder abuse, much greater care must be taken when older Americans identify “attorneys in fact” when they sign Durable Powers of Attorney and when they choose successor trustees for their revocable trusts. Too few understand that individuals given such powers are in a position to misappropriate finances and otherwise take financial advantage. “A great disservice is done by online trust creators, such as LegalZoom,” warns Palo Alto attorney Mark Gerson Gilfix, “because they offer no counseling or effectively conveyed warnings about the need for an extremely conscientious and responsible person to serve in these roles.

Financial elder abuse is a plague that shows no signs of abating. Great care must be taken in choosing private caregivers, in particular, and carefully monitoring the financial affairs of vulnerable elders.

Pioneers of Elder Law – For over 30 years, Gilfix & La Poll Associates LLP has innovated creative legal solutions to help you manage and plan the future of your estate.
To contact an estate planning lawyer visit http://www.gilfix.com/ or call 800.244.9424.

Even more real is the danger posed by many caregivers who seek to take financial advantage. Retired emeritus professor John Wilson (not his real name) needed supplemental care in his life care community. He came to rely upon and trust a caregiver who was with him 40 hours per week. His trust was misplaced.

Over the period of two months, she used his credit card, had him sign checks made out to her for thousands of dollars, and forged his signature on other checks to pay for items that she purchased. In a short time, losses exceeded $60,000.

Professor Wilson was fortunate in that his care and finances were being monitored. The caregiver was fired, the agency reimbursed a portion of the funds, and other funds were recovered by other means. All estimates are that millions of dependent older Americans are victimized by this form of financial abuse every year.

To address, to reduce the possibility of financial elder abuse, much greater care must be taken when older Americans identify “attorneys in fact” when they sign Durable Powers of Attorney and when they choose successor trustees for their revocable trusts. Too few understand that individuals given such powers are in a position to misappropriate finances and otherwise take financial advantage. “A great disservice is done by online trust creators, such as LegalZoom,” warns Palo Alto attorney Mark Gerson Gilfix, “because they offer no counseling or effectively conveyed warnings about the need for an extremely conscientious and responsible person to serve in these roles.

Financial elder abuse is a plague that shows no signs of abating. Great care must be taken in choosing private caregivers, in particular, and carefully monitoring the financial affairs of vulnerable elders.

Pioneers of Elder Law – For over 30 years, Gilfix & La Poll Associates LLP has innovated creative legal solutions to help you manage and plan the future of your estate.
To contact an estate planning lawyer visit http://www.gilfix.com/ or call 800.244.9424.

The VA will only pay for or subsidize veterans who need nursing home care due to a service-connected disability or any vet with a combined service-connected disability rating of 70% or more and who need skilled nursing care. The VA only provides nursing home care for individuals in other categories IF beds and resources are available.

Limitations of VA Nursing Homes in Michigan

One of the biggest limitations of VA Nursing homes, even if you qualify in Michigan is their location.  In Michigan there are two VA Nursing Homes in the whole state.  There is is one in Marquette and the other is in the Grand Rapids area.  Not very helpful if your loved one is a Veteran in the Brighton, Livonia, Metro-Detroit area.

Furthermore, you can’t just decide you are going to a VA nursing home, even if you believe you meet the level of care and rating requirements. There is a process to be evaluated for VA nursing home care. You must first be enrolled for Veterans Health Benefits, which is another process in and of itself and can include an evaluation of income and assets.  Then, once enrolled with the Veterans Health Administration, you must then be evaluated by a primary care provider or a geriatric specialist for nursing home care.

Moreover, if you are a surviving spouse of a Veteran you may not qualify for a VA Nursing Home at all.

You can learn more about VA Care at their website.

VA Benefits for Nursing Home, Assisted Living and Home Care

Now the VA will not pay your entire nursing home, but there is a VA Benefit that will help pay for home care, assisted living or nursing home care called the Aid & Attendance Benefit.

This year the VA Aid & Attendance Benefit maxes out at $2,120 per month.  Now this will not cover the whole cost of nursing home care, which can run over $12,500 per month in Michigan, but it will help ease some of the burden, especially of assisted living or home care.

Medicaid and VA Benefits Together

Typically, if you are a veteran or surviving spouse of a veteran we, at The Elder Care Firm, will help families link their VA Benefits and Medicaid by initially qualifying the family for the VA Benefit when they need home care or assisted living.  However, once the loved one transitions to a nursing home, we will help them qualify for Medicaid by sheltering their resources.  The net effect is until the family needs nursing home care, we help bring in up to $2,120 per month, then once nursing home is needed, Medicaid picks up a majority of the nursing home cost.

Planning ahead for VA Benefits and Medicaid

The earlier a family starts planning for a Veteran or surviving spouse of a veteran, the more options are on the table as the loved one navigates the long-term care journey.  Often, as VA Accredited Elder Law Attorneys, we utilize special asset protection trusts to help qualify for the VA Benefit or Medicaid.

The post Will The VA (Veteran’s Administration) Pay My Nursing Home Care appeared first on Michigan Estate Planning.

Preparing for retirement and the unexpected long term care costs can deplete some and all of your savings. Having a cushion of dollars set aside to protect your savings and your family members lifestyles when this event occurs can be an advantage to everyone.

Long Term Care insurance is one way to offset Home Care, Assisted Living and Nursing Home expenses. The average cost of care in Southeastern Michigan is anywhere between $85,000-$100,000 per year.

Premiums to protect these costs are built on a benefit amount and your age. Each year you wait to buy, premiums will be higher. Oh and don’t forget there is underwriting. Locking in your age and health is key to this protection!

Learn more about various options to pay for care, Nancy Boari is a Long Term Care Specialist with over 20 years experience in health care and 15 years as a LTC Specialist. Let Nancy educate you and your family with this important conversation.

To learn more contanct Nancy via email at nancy.boari@nm.com

The post Long Term Care Insurance…….One Way to Protect Yourself and Your Family appeared first on Estate Planning Lawyers | Elder Law Attorneys | Brighton | Novi | Livonia Elder Law Attorneys.

The Six Ways to Pay for Long-term Care

1) Private pay.  Pay out of your own assets for long-term care.
2) Kids pay.  Typically the children don’t pay financially, but the they pay in term of their time.
3) Medicare.  Medicare only pays short term rehab and hospice, not long-term care costs.
4) Long-Term Care Insurance.  Long-term care insurance is a tool that can help pay long-term care costs, but it is certainly not a magic wand or the only answer.
5) VA Benefits.  We’ll talk more about this more…
6) Medicaid.  Medicaid pays for nursing home level care only, with harsh asset qualification penalties.

Michigan VA Benefits For Long-term Care

If a veteran needs long-term care, either home care, assisted living or nursing home care, there is a little known resource called the non-service connected VA Benefit that can help pay that cost of care.

VA Benefits for Home Care in Michigan

Home care in Michigan can easily run over $3,000 per month when you’re buying a couple hours per day a couple times per week.  The VA Benefit can easily come in and help off-set some of that cost of care.

Qualification for Michigan VA Benefits

There are five requirements to qualify for the Aid and Attendance Veterans Benefit.

1. The Veteran must have served 90 days active duty.
2. One of those days must have been during a period of conflict.
3. Cannot be dishonorably discharged.
4. Long-term Care Costs must exceed Social Security and Pension.
5. Asset Test

The benefit is really that straight forward.  If you’re able to overcome each of the requirements then you can bring in up to $2,120 per month tax free.

If you would like a free easy action plan to secure your VA Benefits, then contact our office for the VA Benefits Action Plan.

The post Michigan VA Benefits for Long-Term Care Costs appeared first on Estate Planning Lawyers | Elder Law Attorneys | Brighton | Novi | Livonia Elder Law Attorneys.

As a professional servicing seniors for the past 10 years, I have recognized the importance of clarity of information for both caregivers and seniors to properly discern the services that are needed both immediately and in the future. My analogy has always been that, when you are young parents, you have no clue as the choices, cost and requirement of child care services until you are there frantically calling around searching for the right options that are both safe, convenient and within your budget.
The same holds true for senior care. People rarely plan in advance for the choices that seems so far off into the future. Let me begin by explaining Home Care options.
Although most forms of home care are bundled into that one phrase, there are extreme differences when comparing, medical and non-medical options.
Non-medical home care is basically caregiving paid on an hourly basis to provide general assistance with activities of daily living. These might include assistance with cooking, cleaning, showering or even medication assistance. This type of home care is paid for privately with typically a minimum number of hours per day or week required by the provider.
Medical home care, also referred to as skilled nursing care, includes providing nursing assistance along with physical/occupational and speech therapy if needed. Home Health Care is paid for by either Medicare/Medicaid or a private insurance if the eligibly is met. The criteria includes:

• Doctor’s orders for referral
• The patient is having difficulty leaving the home without assistance (home bound)
• A change in medical status

If the patient meets this criteria, then a nurse will go to the patient’s home to evaluate, treat and educate them to eliminate a relapse or readmission into the hospital.
To better explain medical home health care, here is a complete explanation provided by Medicare.gov establishing what it is and what to expect:

What is home health care?

Home health care is a wide range of health care services that can be given in your home for an illness or injury. Home health care is usually less expensive, more convenient, and just as effective as care you get in a hospital or skilled nursing facility (SNF).

Examples of skilled home health services include:

• Wound care for pressure sores or a surgical wound
• Patient and caregiver education
• Intravenous or nutrition therapy
• Injections
• Monitoring serious illness and unstable health status

The goal of home health care is to treat an illness or injury, to regain your independence, and become as self-sufficient as possible.

If you get your Medicare benefits through a Medicare health plan, check with your plan to find out how it gives your Medicare-covered home health benefits.

If you have a Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policy or other health insurance coverage, tell your doctor or other health care provider so your bills get paid correctly.

If your doctor or referring health care provider decides you need home health care, they should give you a list of agencies that serve your area, but must tell you whether their organization has a financial interest in any agency listed. The decision on what agency to select is the patient or family choice.

What should you expect from home health care?

• Doctor’s orders are needed to start care. Then the home health agency will schedule an appointment and come to your home to talk to you about your needs
• The home health agency staff will also talk to your doctor about your care and keep your doctor updated about your progress.

Examples of what the home health staff should do include:

• Check what you’re eating and drinking.
• Check your blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, and breathing.
• Check that you’re taking your prescription and other drugs and any treatments correctly.
• Ask if you’re having pain.
• Check your safety in the home and teach you how to take care of yourself
• Coordinate your care with Physician

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