Caring for an elderly parent can be stressful for families. Siblings may disagree over how to provide care or where a parent will live, and if these squabbles escalate into a guardianship battle, it can cost the family thousands of dollars. To avoid this, lawyers have begun drafting sibling agreements (also called family care agreements).If […]
A nursing home closure can be traumatic for residents who are forced to move. While there may not be much that can be done to prevent a closure, residents do have some rights.Moving into a nursing home can be a stressful experience on its own. If that nursing home closes, residents can experience symptoms that […]
While long-term care insurance costs are up in general, some policies are going down in 2018, according to the 2018 Long Term Care Insurance Price Index, an annual report from the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), an industry group.A married couple who are both 60 years old would pay an average of $3,490 […]
Medicare is supposed to provide up to 35 hours a week of home care to those who qualify, but many Medicare patients with chronic conditions are being wrongly denied such care, according to Kaiser Health News. For a variety of reasons, many home health care agencies are simply telling patients they are not covered.Medicare is […]
The new Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which makes broad changes to the income and estate tax codes, will have a significant impact on many taxpayers. Because it is so new and so complex, it will be some time before tax professionals fully understand those impacts. Fortunately, most of the law does not take effect […]
The new year brings some of the coldest days we will endure and members of the elderly population are particularly vulnerable during these days. The physical changes that occur during the aging process, coupled with weather-related events like snow and ice, can make winter a potentially dangerous season for the elderly. Care.com published an article […]
You may be afraid of losing your home if you have to enter a nursing home and apply for Medicaid. While this fear is well-founded, transferring the home to your children is usually not the best way to protect it.Although you generally do not have to sell your home in order to qualify for Medicaid […]
The announcement of the 2018 Medicare premium is good news for some beneficiaries and bad news for many others. The good news is that the standard monthly Part B premium, which about 30 percent of Medicare beneficiaries pay, will again be $134 next year, unchanged from 2017.But most Medicare recipients pay a lower premium because they have […]
After staying the same for five years, the amount you can give away to any one individual in a particular year without reporting the gift will increase in 2018.The annual gift tax exclusion for 2018 is rising from $14,000 to $15,000. This means that any person who gives away $15,000 or less to any one individual (anyone […]
Patients looking for hospice care can now get help from Medicare’s website. The agency’s new Hospice Compare site allows patients to evaluate hospice providers according to several criteria. The site is a good start, but there is room for improvement, experts say.Medicare’s comprehensive hospice benefit covers any care that is reasonable and necessary for easing the […]