MEDICARE OPEN ENROLLMENT: HOW DO I DECIDE? Open enrollment for Medicare is October 15 – December 7 every year. This is your opportunity to review your current plan, coverage’s and costs. You need to determine whether to stay with your current plan or if you want to change to…
Legal Documents for Travel Plan Ahead We planned a trip to Vietnam over one year ago and are now on our way. While we are very excited, there also is a lot of curiosity about what we will experience when we arrive. Never having flown on such a long flight, I’m hoping that sleep comes…
I WANT MY CHILDREN TO BE EQUAL Clients often state when deciding who to name as their Agent under the Durable Power of Attorney that they would like their children to each be able to act. While that is a nice idea, it is often difficult, if not impossible to determine how your children will…
There are so many differences between a Will and a Trust and their usefulness. Many books have been written explaining how and when to use a Trust instead of or in addition to a Will. One of the questions I get the most, “Do I have enough money to set up a Trust?” I follow…
Florida Medicaid Long Term Managed Care Update It’s hard to believe it’s been 5 years since the initial implementation of the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long Term Care program (SMMC LTC). For those of you not acquainted with the program, the LTC program provides nursing facility and home based services to adults who meet the…
ABLE Accounts (they are not “Trusts”) are coming to Florida July 1, 2016. ABLE United is Florida’s ABLE program and will start taking participants July 1. ABLE accounts can be very helpful and powerful tools for certain individuals with disabilities. Remember, to use an ABLE account the disability has to have occurred prior to age…
Florida ABLE (to be called ABLE United) is scheduled to launch in June, 2016. A lot has occurred since we last posted on this subject earlier in the year. We have Policy adopted by Social Security in the form of a new POM, SI 01130.70. We have the point person for ABLE in Florida, Will…
Special Needs Lawyers welcomes Kimarie Bock as our new office manager. Kimarie is a graduate of the University of South Florida and also attended the University of West Florida in Pensacola and Spring Hill College in Mobile Alabama where she played on both school’s College Women’s Basketball Teams. Look for Kimarie out at some of…
A few days ago I received a call from a client whose husband has been receiving Medicaid Long Term Care benefits for many years without issue. She has completed the Medicaid annual benefit review on his behalf on her own, or with the assistance of the nursing home staff and each year the Medicaid benefits…
When an application is made for Long Term Care (LTC) SMMC Medicaid benefits the question is asked whether you have given away, sold, or transferred any assets or property in the last five years. If the answer is yes, you must provide the Department of Children and Families (DCF) with an explanation of all such…