Elder Law Blog

If you think Medicaid is confusing, you have some good company. A number of federal judges have arrived at the same conclusion. The following quote appears in Cherry v. Magnant, 832 F. Supp. 1271 (S.D. Ind. 1993):

The federal and state Medicaid statutes have been described as the regulatory equivalent of the "Serbonian bog." See John Milton, Paradise Lost, bk. 2, 1.592 ("A gulf profound, as that Serbonian bog Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old, Where armies whole have been sunk."). These regulations have also been characterized as "almost unintelligible to the uninitiated," Friedman v. Berger, 547 F.2d 724, 727 n.7 (2nd Cir. 1976) (Friendly, J.), cert denied, 430 U.S. 984, 52 L. Ed. 2d 378, 97 S. Ct. 1681 (1977); as an "aggravated assault on the English language, resistance to attempts to understand it"; Friedman v. Berger, 409 F. Supp. 1225, 1225-26 (S.D.N.Y. 1976); and by this circuit as "labyrinthinan." Roloff v. Sullivan, 975 F.2d 333, 340, n. 12 (7th Cir. 1992).

On October 16, 2015, USA Today reported (see link below) that nursing home care could run as high as $730,000. It told the story of Randy and Mary Kaump, who care for Randy's 97 year old monther, Janis. Janis has been a nursing home resident for four years, paying $13,000 per month. So far, she has depleted her savings, with Randy and Mary chipping in an additional $100,000 of their own money. In Georgia, the cost of care is hovering around $7,000 per month, so the bills are lower. Unfortunately, for most families $7,000 per month isn't nearly low enough.

Stories like this are all too common, but even more common is the story of a spouse depleting his or her savings to pay for a sick spouse's care. Although there is nothing wrong with paying for your own care, most people don't have that much to fall back on so paying for care could mean the healthy spouse has nothing to use for his or her own retirement needs. Would it make a difference if you knew there's help out there?

Social Security recently announced that you can use your online account to get a replacement Medicare card if your card is lost or damaged. You can also get statements from Social Security regarding your earnings, and estimate regarding future benefits.

Among other things you can do, you can get a letter with proof of your benefits. You can manage your account, change your address, start or change your direct deposit, and get a replacement SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S for your taxes.

In hindsight, people might have acted differently. That could be the case with the participants litigating Colonial Park Care Center, LLC v. Dep’t of Public Works, 2015 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 406 (July 21, 2015).

In March, 2012, John Matjasic was admitted to Colonial Park, a nursing home. John was 77 years old at the time. In 2007, John had a stroke, after which he resided with his wife and daughter. Although the facts in the case are less than clear, it appears like John and his wife were separated prior to the stroke. In 2012, John had a seizure, which led to the nursing home admission.