Nursing Home Rights and Eligibilty

Nursing homes can be very costly. Medicaid is just about the only insurance that will cover nursing home expenses, although some private insurances will pay a certain amount. Nursing Home eligibility rules are not so easy to understand. There are rules that can help protect your home and protect your spouse when using Medicaid.

Nursing Home Resident's Rights; Elder Law

The rights of nursing home's residents are no different than the rights of any citizen. Unfortunately, nursing home residents aren't always treated as they should be. In 1987 laws were passed for elder law by Congress that help protect you or your spouse while in a nursing home.
Here are just a few laws that were passed:

• Resident has the right to see all of their records
• Residents must be informed of services available and how much they will cost
• Residents can share a room with their spouse
• Residents can get up and go to bed whenever they want

Disputes in the nursing home

There are certain steps that can be taken if needed when you feel you or your spouse or loved one has been mistreated.

• Talk to the nursing home staff
• Talk to nursing home supervisor/administration
• Request a meeting with nursing staff
• Talk with the ombudsperson that is assigned

If all else fails contact Elder Law Attorney's Cohen and Oalican, LLC.
Attorneys Cohen & Oalican specialize in Elder Law; where protecting your assets and your dignity is their core mission.

Supplemental Needs Trusts

Supplemental needs trusts are created for disabled children to provide luxuries that aren't available through public assistance. This is also known as a special needs trust. These trusts are setup so that beneficiaries are allowed to receive gifts or settlements without losing their eligibility for public benefits.

Public Benefits Restrictions for Supplemental Needs Trusts; Elder Law

Supplemental needs trusts need to comply with certain rules/restrictions so that public benefits will not be jeopardized. There are two ways to go about this:

• A "Payback" program can be setup where the state or Medicaid will be paid back at the time of the beneficiaries death.
• A "Pooled Trust" can be setup (a non-profit agency manages resources "pooled" between many disabled beneficiaries.)

Supplemental Needs Trusts Restrictions on Income Paid to Beneficiary; Cohen and Oalican, LLC

There are restrictions on how funds in a supplemental needs trust can be spent. A beneficiary can lose one dollar of SSI benefits for every one dollar paid to them. Attorneys Cohen and Oalican can draft a trust to limit a trustee's discretion. They can also setup the trust to NOT limit their discretion, but properly counsel the trustee on how their money should be used.

Attorneys Cohen & Oalican specialize in Elder Law; where protecting your assets and your dignity is their core mission.