Planning Ahead for the Medicaid Look-Back Period
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Planning Ahead for the Medicaid Look-Back Period

Public Benefits

Planning Ahead for the Medicaid Look-Back Period

What is a Medicaid Look-Back Period, and why should you be concerned about planning ahead for Medicaid benefits? We encounter the following factual scenario on a regular basis, which will shed some light on why you may want to start planning now. Mom can no longer live independently. Mom sells her house and moves in with her son and his family. Son uses mom’s money to remodel or add an addition to his home and to help pay household expenses, such as utilities, food, maintenance. Mom never puts anything in writing indicating son can use her money for such expenses. [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:18:43-05:00September 16, 2021|

Qualified Income Trust for Medicaid
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Qualified Income Trust for Medicaid

Public Benefits

Qualified Income Trust for Medicaid

Applying for Medicaid for yourself or a loved one can be a difficult process. Many people believe they have successfully navigated all clinical and financial criteria, only to discover that the applicant requires a Qualified Income Trust, or QIT. Prior to December 1, 2014, all Medicaid applicants in the State of New Jersey with a monthly income in excess of the annual income limit, $2,382.00/month in 2021, were ineligible for the benefit. The creation of QITs has allowed for a wider range of applicants but has further complicated the Medicaid application process. Improper use of a QIT can result in [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:23:30-05:00July 22, 2021|

Medicaid Crisis Planning: Paying for Long-Term Care

COVID-19 has been devastating to long-term care residents. Although the situation has improved greatly after the availability of vaccines, family members are still hesitant to make the decision to place their loved ones in a nursing home setting. Nonetheless, there was and continues to be an important need for assisted living and/or nursing home care. Should placement in a long-term care community be necessary, it is important to adequately prepare for the significant financial costs of care. Medicaid crisis planning is a crucial step in preparing for the future and taming the unexpected. Medicaid crisis planning can help turn an [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:25:33-05:00July 9, 2021|

Medicaid and Veterans’ Benefits: Important Documents to Save
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Medicaid and Veterans’ Benefits: Important Documents to Save

Public Benefits

Medicaid and Veterans’ Benefits: Important Documents to Save

Throughout my years of document gathering for Medicaid and Veterans' benefits applications, most of my clients exclaim at some point, “why didn’t anyone ever tell me I needed to keep this stuff?” With the never-ending pile of junk mail gathering, it can be tough to separate the “keep” and “trash” piles when considering what you may someday need down the road for Medicaid and Veterans' benefits. Below, I have listed the most common items that people wish they had held onto: Social Security card Medicare card Passport (current or expired) Photo ID (current or expired) Birth certificate Marriage certificate Spouse’s [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:26:46-05:00June 9, 2021|

Medicaid Crisis Planning: Paying for Long-Term Care
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Medicaid Crisis Planning: Paying for Long-Term Care

Public Benefits

Medicaid Crisis Planning: Paying for Long-Term Care

Medicaid crisis planning is a crucial step in preparing for the future and taming the unexpected. And as with the case of Marie, a client I was happy to assist, Medicaid crisis planning helped turn an unexpected situation into the best possible outcome for her and her husband. $300,500.00 was most of Marie’s life savings. When she remarried while in her late 60s, it did not matter that her new husband had scant funds. Marie was happily working, and her new husband, Charlie, could help with the bills using his significant pension. No more than 10 years after their marriage, [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:28:06-05:00June 3, 2021|

Veterans: Honoring Those Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice
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Veterans: Honoring Those Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice

Public Benefits

Veterans: Honoring Those Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice

At Rothkoff Law Group, we honor our veterans in our hearts every day and acknowledge the true significance of holidays like Memorial Day. Like many Philadelphia natives, my dad’s parents retired to the Jersey shore. Although my grandfather passed away when I was just an infant, I had the opportunity to spend every summer with my grandmother in Sea Isle City. Memorial Day weekend always marked the unofficial start of the summer season. It is important to remember why we celebrate Memorial Day. Unlike Veteran’s Day that remembers all who have served our country, Memorial Day is to remember those [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:28:18-05:00May 27, 2021|

Where is My Third Stimulus Check?: Possible Problems
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Where is My Third Stimulus Check?: Possible Problems

Public Benefits

Where is My Third Stimulus Check?: Possible Problems

As your friends and family receive their third stimulus checks, you may have grown increasingly worried about the status of your own economic impact payment. Due to some changes in check distribution this time around, your third economic impact payment may still be coming. Additionally, the IRS is no longer providing assistance via phone, as they did for the first stimulus payments, instead encouraging those eligible to check the status of their payment through the IRS's payment tracker tool, which you can access by clicking here. If your payment has been delayed, the most common reasons are outlined below. Where [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:29:42-05:00April 8, 2021|

How the $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill Impacts Seniors, Health Care
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How the $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill Impacts Seniors, Health Care

Law Update, Public Benefits

How the $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill Impacts Seniors, Health Care

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, commonly known as the COVID Relief Bill, became law on March 11, 2021. The law includes the widely publicized $1,400.00 stimulus checks and expanding vaccine distribution, in addition to increasing access to health insurance, funding for the long-term care community, and continued support for the Elder Justice and Older Americans Acts. For those on Medicaid, the the COVID Relief Bill stimulus check is not income or a resource for Medicaid purposes. The funds may be gifted penalty-free for the first 12 months. After 12 months, it is considered a resource impacting Medicaid eligibility. [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:31:06-05:00March 25, 2021|

What Seniors Need to Know About the New Stimulus Package
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What Seniors Need to Know About the New Stimulus Package

Public Benefits

What Seniors Need to Know About the New Stimulus Package

The new $900 billion stimulus package was signed into law last week in order to address the continued health and economic fallout of the COVID pandemic. The relief measure includes a one-time $600 payment per eligible adult and child, but those $600 payments are not the only provision seniors should know about. The coronavirus relief package was included as a part of a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill, which also contained changes to key senior programs. Here are some of the legislation’s most important provisions for older Americans. $600 Stimulus Checks The stimulus package authorizes a one-time $600 relief payment [...]

Jerold Rothkoff2024-03-08T12:33:04-05:00January 4, 2021|

Your Public Benefits Have a Lookback – Even Around the Holidays!
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Your Public Benefits Have a Lookback – Even Around the Holidays!

Public Benefits

Your Public Benefits Have a Lookback – Even Around the Holidays!

The holiday season is upon us yet again. It is easy to get caught up in the festivities and forget that if you or a loved one are enrolled in a public benefits program or are planning to apply in the future, it is important to remember that even holiday gifting can impact eligibility. Are you or your spouse receiving Medicaid benefits? Or will you need long-term care in the next five years? If so, a review of five years’ worth of all financial documents is conducted during the application process. They impose a penalty by delaying eligibility for benefits [...]

Rothkoff Law Group2024-03-08T12:33:35-05:00December 10, 2020|