On March 27, 2024, the Social Security Administration published a final rule in the Federal Register which changes its calculation of In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM). Under the prior rule, if food and/or shelter is provided to a recipient of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the income is deemed to the recipient, reducing his or her […]
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In February 2024, Justice in Aging released a new report based on California’s “performance measure” data from the state’s Medicaid assisted living program. Aging in Justice concluded that the quality of care measures provide no meaningful information. A perfect score tells you nothing about the quality of care residents receive. The report concludes that the […]
Recently the Special Needs Alliance published a new handbook for individuals with disabilities and their advocates. The SNA states: “The intent of this handbook is to explain some of the terms related to services and supports for people with disabilities, to introduce the process of transitioning from child services to adult services, and to provide […]
Historically, unborn embryos have not been considered children. Recently, in LePage v. The Center for Responsive Productive Medicine, P.C., the Alabama Supreme Court found otherwise. Ordinarily this would not be an “elder law” issue, but the law considers unborn children to be potential heirs of an estate. For example, O.C.G.A. § 53-2-1(b)(1) provides: Children of […]
Guardianship Evaluation In most cases I’ve been involved in, the evaluator’s report is stipulated into evidence or the evaluator is called as a witness. The reason is that the report cannot be cross-examined so the thought was that it’s subject to a hearsay objection. A recent case taught me otherwise (at least in Georgia). In […]
A Petition for writ of certiorari in the case of Dermody v. Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. The issue is “Whether an annuity that satisfies the condition in 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(c)(2)(B)(i) determining the Medicaid eligibility of a married institutionalized person must name the state […]
On November 17, 2023, Georgia issued Manual Transmittal 71, updating its Medicaid Manual, making technical changes to the following sections. The following sections were updated: 2054 – Emergency Medical Assistance 2060 – ABD Medicaid Application Processing 2101 – ABD Medicaid Classes of Assistance Overview 2111 – SSI Medicaid 2135 – Hospice Medicaid 2143 – QMB […]
For many years, Genworth has produced a Cost of Care Survey tracking the cost of long-term care in America. According to the survey, the projected national monthly median costs will be as follows: Homemaker Services: $5,417 Home Health Aide: $5,625 Adult Day Health Care: $1,847 Assisted Living Facility: $4,917 Nursing Home Semi-Private Room: $8,641 Nursing […]
On November 14, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the 2024 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards. The SSI rate for 2024, which was previously announced by the Social Security Administration, will rise to $943. The Medicaid Income Cap will rise to $2,829. The minimum MMMNA will be $2,465 and the maximum MMMNA […]
Effective January 1, 2024, the federal Supplemental Security Income payment amount will increase by 3.2 percent. The amounts paid to individuals and couples are below: Recipient Unrounded annual amounts for— Monthly amounts for 2024 2023 2024 a Eligible individual $10,970.44 $11,321.49 $943 Eligible couple 16,453.84 16,980.36 1,415 Essential person 5,497.80 5,673.73 472 Impact on Medicaid This […]
