News
The Power of Dogs
Recently, my wife, son, and I traveled to lower Manhattan for a birthday party for a seven-year-old that was to be held outside of a bar/restaurant in the Chelsea neighborhood. This was not an ordinary seven-year-old birthday party. It was a birthday party for our daughters’ seven-year-old female bulldog named Ellie, who they adopted one year ago from a local rescue. My initial thought was, “why would I want to spend two hours outside in early February in New York City for a seven-year-old bulldog’s party?” The birthday party was part of a larger Sunday weekly meet-up group for New [...]
The Value of Planning Before a Senior Healthcare Crisis
Recently, Tina Kane, one of our elder care coordinators, and I were invited to speak on the Givnish Spotlight hour on WWDB 860 AM. The show is led by representatives of the Life Celebrations family of funeral homes, a group that advocates for preneed burial and funeral planning. The reason for our invitation to join a few weeks ago was to discuss the value of planning as we age. Simple in concept, complex in execution. If there's a list of things we dislike or avoid talking about, I imagine death and dying would be near the top. Not far [...]
Millions at Risk to Lose Medicaid Coverage as of April 1, 2023
Analysts estimate that up to 18 million people (or one in five enrollees) will lose Medicaid coverage between this year and next, and among those, 3.8 million will remain without health insurance. Here is what you need to know. Medicaid enrollment ballooned by 20 million people during the Covid-19 pandemic to nearly 84 million people. That was no fluke: with a declaration of a Public Health Emergency (PHE), states were barred from removing people from the program. This is all about to change. The $1.7 trillion government spending bill passed in December reinstated states’ ability to kick people off Medicaid, [...]
State of the Firm
Dear Friend of the Firm: As we end a meaningful and productive year, we want to thank you for your continued trust in our elder care law firm. We value our relationship with each of you and look forward to an even better 2023. I would like to take a few moments to reflect on the past year and update you on Rothkoff Law Group. Over the past year, we have engaged in the following activities and firm engagement: In October, we rolled out a new resource for our clients and families of aging loved ones: our new book, A [...]
Recognizing Changes in Loved Ones Over the Holiday Season
‘Tis the season for families to come together to celebrate the holidays, including with our elderly loved ones. In many instances, this time of year is the first time you may see an aging parent, grandparent, or other relatives after months apart, or even perhaps from the last holiday season. Below are some common age-related changes in loved ones to be mindful of when visiting. Significant weight gain or loss Changes in mobility or balance Fluctuations in mood or behaviors Poor memory or increased confusion It is important to address changes in loved ones such as those listed above early [...]
A Discussion on Aging with a Nine-Year-Old
Sometimes it’s just easier for others to explain. On a recent Sunday, instead of dropping my 9-year-old daughter, Addison, at the Synagogue for her Sunday School class, I dropped her at the Horsham Center for Jewish Life for a field trip. Walking in, Addison asked if I had ever been to the building—I explained that I have many clients who live or have lived in this building. As a follow-up, Addison asked why I have so many clients that live there. In the two minutes before her field trip began, I did my best to summarize what elder care is, [...]
Aging Parents with Special Needs Adults
Planning to Replace the Irreplaceable Parent For aging parents with children who are special needs adults, planning ahead is an important step in seamlessly transitioning care. We spend a good part of our day helping families navigate the long-term care system to secure care for a senior. Many families do not realize that we also assist in planning for the families of seniors. Most parents of children with disabilities are aware of the necessity to plan financially for their child. However, they may not have considered living and care arrangements for their child, regardless of the child’s age. Some families [...]
Solo Agers: Identifying Support Care, Asset, and Legal Support
A recent New York Times article detailed an increasing cohort of solo agers—those over 50 aging alone—and the physical, financial, and psychological effects of doing so. In 1960, less than 15% of households had a single occupant; that figure is nearly 30% today. Almost twice as many Americans over the age of 50 live alone today than in the year 2000. The research on this is clear: Seniors living alone have poorer physical and mental health and shorter life spans. In fact, research shows that loneliness is as damaging to physical health as smoking 15 cigarettes daily. Because solo agers [...]
Can Nursing Home Residents Leave for the Holidays?
As we are now in the holiday season, one question many families are asking is, "can nursing home residents leave for the holidays?" If a resident decides to leave the nursing home for the holidays, CMS recommends certain actions when the resident returns. Consider the following scenario. A client was in a local nursing home for a rehabilitation stay following a fall resulting in hospitalization. His spouse communicated that her husband wanted to come home for the day to spend Thanksgiving with his family and would be devastated if he was unable to do so for health reasons. The nursing [...]
Human Composting: The New Green Burial Movement
What is human composting, and is it a viable option for end-of-life? As an end-of-life doula, one of my goals is to bring awareness and intimacy back to caring for loved ones at the end of life and after they have taken their last breath. Steering away from the "traditional" way we have been dealing with death can give us the ability to care for our dead and dying in a way that allows us to honor them, work through fears and emotions related to death, promote healthy grieving, and bring closure to loved ones. In September, California's governor Gavin [...]
Does it Have to Be this Complicated?
Once, during a client meeting, I was attempting to explain to a client’s family why part of the client’s income must be placed into a trust to become eligible for Medicaid assisted living coverage in New Jersey. As I was explaining something that I knew did not make sense to a reasonable person, I asked myself, does it really need to be this complicated? A federal court, regarding the complexity of Medicaid law, has stated: “There can be no doubt but that the statutes and provisions in question, involving the financing of Medicare and Medicaid, are among the most completely [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
The Life Care Plan: A Complex and Confusing Puzzle
Navigating a successful life care plan is much like a puzzle. Every step must be correct to progress and complete the plan. I love puzzles. Crosswords, sudoku, cryptograms, almost any puzzle. My friends and family poke fun at me for casually glancing at a puzzle on the NY Times iPhone app when I should be engaged otherwise (like at dinner or at my daughters’ soccer games). Regardless of my penchant for puzzles at inopportune times, my wife, Stefanie, recently gave me The Puzzler by A.J. Jacobs. The book follows Jacobs’ “quest to solve the most baffling puzzles ever, from crosswords [...]
My Visit with Grandpa: A Reminder of Why We Do What We Do
I have been a geriatric social worker for eight years and a care coordinator with Rothkoff Law Group for over three. I knew I wanted to work with the geriatric population when I was completing an internship at a long-term care facility in South Jersey during my senior year of college. I fell in love with the elderly population and knew that I wanted to help seniors have a good quality of life and be treated with dignity and respect. I also wanted to give them the chance to talk about their lives and feel heard. Working with the elderly [...]
