Medicaid Planning Strategies

A major new study from Canada concludes that care provided in a home setting is significantly less expensive than long-term residential care--sometimes less than half the cost. More . . .

Medicare officials have issued guidelines allowing homebound beneficiaries to leave their homes for special occasions--such as family reunions, graduations or funerals--without losing their home health care benefits. More . . .

A Seattle woman asks a New York Times advice columnist whether it is ethical to divorce a husband who suffers from Alzheimer's so that she can retain her assets while he qualifies for Medicaid. More . . .

Around the country, a handful of new approaches are being tried to do away with the hospital model for nursing homes and replace it with care that gives meaning to residents' lives, according to an article in the Washington Post.

'Nursing Home Compare,' the government Web site that disseminates information about conditions in individual nursing homes, has major flaws that can mislead families seeking a safe facility, according to a Congressional report. More . . .

A draft federal report showing that nine out of 10 U.S. nursing homes are understaffed is now available for download from the Web. More . . .

The Court of Appeals of Iowa has ruled that a trust that terminates if it causes a Medicaid applicant to be denied benefits should still be counted among the applicant's assets. More . . .

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision allowing states to use what is known as the "income-first" rule. Because of this decision, depending on the state, a community spouse of a Medicaid recipient could quickly be thrown into poverty...

Medicaid 101

A California court says that a nursing home was largely responsible for the injuries of a resident who accidentally set himself on fire while smoking. Lawson v. Skyline Healthcare Center (Cal. Ct. App., 2 App. Dist., B142164, Oct. 3, 2001).