About Jerold Rothkoff

Jerold Rothkoff, a practicing New Jersey and Pennsylvania attorney, is the Principal of the Rothkoff Law Group, an elder care law firm. Jerry dedicates his practice to serving clients in the areas of life care planning, long-term care planning, Medicaid & VA benefits, and advocacy for the elderly and disabled. He is past President of the NJ Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, former chair of the elder law section of the NJ State Bar Association, and past President of the Life Care Planning Law Firm Association. Jerry continues to be an outspoken advocate for the rights of the elderly and disabled. He writes for and gives presentations regularly to attorneys and other professionals about legal issues related to seniors and those with disabilities. Jerry’s community activities include the Twilight Wish Foundation, the Delaware Valley Stroke Council, the Alzheimer’s Association, as well as numerous other advocacy groups. When not in the office, Jerry spends time with his wife, Erica, and their five children, eighteen-year old identical twin girls, Liza and Julia, fifteen-year old fraternal twin boys, Evan and Gregory, and six-year old Aitan.

It’s More Than a Game

What a great few weeks it has been for Philadelphia sports fans. Baseball was and will always be the number one sport for me. I mentioned to my wife Sunday, October 23rd, 2022, was one of the top three days for sports in my life. The first was in October 1993, watching the Phillies win the 1993 National League Pennant while sitting next to my dad in the 700 level of old Veterans Stadium. My dad died a few years later. Celebrating and hugging each other in that old cement bowl known as Veterans Stadium is still vividly etched in my mind. [...]

2024-03-08T11:21:10-05:00October 28, 2022|

CMS to Make More Medicare Nursing Home Ownership Data Publicly Available

Additional Medicare nursing home ownership data is being made publicly available by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This effort may help improve nursing home transparency, safety and quality, and accountability by providing more information about the ownership of all Medicare-certified nursing homes. This data will, for the first time, give state licensing officials, state and federal law enforcement, researchers, and the public an enhanced ability to identify common owners of nursing homes across nursing home locations. This information can be linked to other data sources to identify [...]

2024-03-08T11:21:40-05:00October 21, 2022|

My Grandmother the Teacher

My grandmother, Fannie Weiss, died in 1999 as the result of end-stage Alzheimer's Disease. Towards the end of her life, she was unable to recognize family and friends. I remember her fondly for her love of Yiddish humor, dancing, and singing and her fondness for taking every Sweet’N Low packet home with her from each and every diner in Northeast Philadelphia. She loved to show off her grandchildren to her friends and take us to her community pool. She was always there for me, as well as her other grandchildren, when needed. Yet, when she needed me the most, at [...]

2024-03-08T12:21:46-05:00September 9, 2022|

A Day in the Life of a Big City Emergency Department

There must be a better way to provide emergency health services. I write this from the perspective of a recent emergency room patient of Jefferson Hospital in Center City, Philadelphia. On July 11th, 2022, around 11am, I was in my Cherry Hill office when I began to experience a tingling sensation in both my arms and legs. Soon after, I became light-headed and began to experience a numbing sensation around my mouth. This was when I became concerned, as I thought these were potential symptoms of a stroke. Being involved in stroke advocacy groups in the past, I knew I [...]

2024-03-08T11:24:53-05:00August 26, 2022|

The Benefits of Having an Elder Care Coordinator on Your Side

Have you ever considered the benefits of an elder care coordinator when planning for your or a loved one’s future? Rothkoff Law Group follows a unique elder care law firm model called Life Care Planning. This model encourages its law firms to hire care coordinators (usually a social worker or nurse) to help clients navigate the long-term care maze. We often hear, “What does the elder care coordinator do?” When we mention our firm has six geriatric social workers on staff, the reaction is either delight or confusion (or sometimes both). Below is an example of a typical client of [...]

2024-03-08T11:26:32-05:00August 5, 2022|

CMS Updated Nursing Home Regulation Guidance

On June 29, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released much-awaited Phase 3 guidance along with updated Phase 2 guidance on nursing home regulation. The guidance was issued as the result of 2016 revisions to the Medicare Requirements for Participation for Nursing Homes. Due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS is only now releasing the last set of guidance for nursing home regulation, which was originally scheduled to be released in 2019. The Phase 3 guidance offers significant updates to the requirements state oversight agencies must follow when surveying and assessing a nursing home's compliance [...]

2024-03-08T11:27:18-05:00July 22, 2022|

Managing Senior Independence with AgeTech

Before We Drove, We Walked In our Elder Care Law practice, our Care Coordinators frequently encounter families who need assistance managing senior independence, such as loved ones who should no longer drive. Whether because of a cognitive incapacity or physical incapacity, driving safely is not something their loved one can manage. 90% of seniors aged 70 or over believe losing the ability to drive means a loss of independence. Because of this, these discussions are often met with frustration, anger, and sadness. Also discussed frequently, but with seemingly less anger or frustration, is the loss of one's ability to walk. [...]

2024-03-08T11:27:37-05:00July 15, 2022|

Sunday With Sinatra (and My Dad)

My dad loved Frank Sinatra. I vividly remember as a young child driving on Sunday mornings with my dad in his Oldsmobile 98, listening to Sid Mark and Sunday with Sinatra. As a young child, I did not understand how my dad could enjoy that type of music. Back in the 1970s, there was no escape from the Oldsmobile and Sinatra, as I did not have an iPhone, iPad, or satellite radio at my disposal. However, as I have aged, I have grown fond of Sinatra's music. It may have to do more with remembering the quality time I spent [...]

2024-03-08T11:28:19-05:00June 16, 2022|

Gallardo v. Marstiller: Supreme Court Decision’s Impact on Personal Injury Settlement

The Supreme Court recently ruled 7-2 in Gallardo v. Marstiller, Secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care, that the federal Medicaid Act does not preempt Florida's policies dictating how the state can obtain Medicaid reimbursements from third parties and that Florida was, therefore, able to seek reimbursement from personal injury settlement payments. Background in the Gallardo v. Marstiller case, according to the syllabus: "Petitioner Gianinna Gallardo suffered catastrophic injuries resulting in permanent disability when a truck struck her as she stepped off her Florida school bus. Florida’s Medicaid agency paid $862,688.77 to cover Gallardo’s initial medical expenses, and the [...]

2024-03-08T11:28:34-05:00June 14, 2022|

An Eternal Love

“Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a teardrop.” –– AnonymousAs is the nature of our elder care law practice, I usually meet our client or their spouse at a time when at least one spouse has deteriorated in health to the point of needing some form of long-term care. In some cases, a spouse has recently passed away. In others, a spouse passes during our representation. In most cases, the clients have been married for many years, typically over 50 years.I attempt to not only understand the current situation but also to obtain background [...]

2024-03-08T11:28:52-05:00June 1, 2022|
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