Articles Tagged with new york medicaid lawyer

Being named as a beneficiary to the estate of a loved one often comes with its own set of responsibilities and expectations following the passing of the deceased. Often times, individuals create estates and trusts to ensure their hard earned assets like homes, businesses, and sentimental items remain with close family members to ensure these articles are well taken care of and create a lasting legacy for future generations.

However, sometimes the strings attached with inheriting such assets are simply too much for the beneficiary to bare and could actually create a burden instead of benefit. Many of us have probably seen movies or heard news reports of beneficiaries needing to perform some sort of unusual task to claim an inheritance like taking care of a pet or living in a home for a certain period before the property may be sold.

While many of these examples are rare and impractical to say the least, there are many times when accepting an inheritance can create untenable financial liabilities like paying property taxes on homes and businesses. Despite the financial hardship some inheritances create, beneficiaries may still want to ensure their portion of the estate remains under their sphere of influence and provide some good to other families members down the line.

Medicaid is a terrific program designed to help older Americans pay for the cost of their prescription medication, hospital care, and even long term assisted living facility needs. Of course, like any other program, the system is in imperfect and comes with its own unique set of limitations, restrictions, and penalties that seniors and their families need to understand in order to take full advantage of under the law.

Designed as a resource to help low income and disabled seniors, Medicaid requires applicants meet certain financial criteria to qualify for benefits. Sometimes, seniors find themselves in a delicate situation where the state considers them too wealthy to qualify for Medicaid but unable to pay for vital nursing and hospital care on their own. In these circumstances, seniors may need to spend down or transfer assets to qualify for Medicaid assistance.

While this may seem like a practical idea, application for Medicaid in New York requires seniors to disclose asset transfers over the previous five-years to ensure applicants are truly in need of government assistance. The Department of Social Services ”looks back” at financial transactions made by the applicant or his/her spouse and may institute a so-called “penalty period” on non-exempt transferred assets which creates a waiting period on benefits which varies depending on the situation.

The Erie County District Attorney recently announced the creation of a new enhanced multidisciplinary team (eDMT) to help combat the 1,600 cases of senior financial exploitation reported each year in the country. The approach is a brand new model design to create a public-private partnership across multiple disciplines to investigate, prosecute, and educate the public about the very real danger facing many vulnerable elders both in the county and the state as a whole.

According to the Erie County District Attorney’s website, the eDMT “is coordinated by social worker Kathy Kanaley of Center for Elder Law & Justice, and includes the Erie County District Attorney’s office and representatives from Erie County Adult Protective Services and Senior Services.” Furthermore, the task force includes a forensic accountant assisting in the accounting of stolen funds, as well as a geriatric psychiatrist to help with determinations of capacity.

“This collaboration will help our office spot and aggressively prosecute those who prey on these vulnerable members of society,” said Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn. “The sooner we can take action, the easier it will be to get justice for these elderly victims.”