Your Inside Look at Arizona’s Health Care Community
Posted in ALTCS, Assisted Living, Family & Caregiver, Senior Exploitation on Jul 31st, 2008
Can you imagine living in a facility nine and a half years, spending your life savings to live in a place you now call home, only to be kicked out when you’ve spent 300k and told that paying with Medicaid was no longer an option?
That’s exactly what happened to a 98-year-old woman in Washington State. The woman’s [...]
Posted in Alzheimers, Family & Caregiver on Jul 30th, 2008
Are you caring for a loved one with dementia? As a caregiver myself, I know how difficult it can be. We sometimes think if we remind those we are caring for enough, they might remember. All we end up doing is frustrating ourselves and creating more confusion for them. Let’s face it, denial is a true [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Family & Caregiver, Uncategorized on Jul 29th, 2008
Our Arizona Long-Term Care (Medicaid) program is unique. Since 1989, our state has offered home and community-based services (HCBS) to those living in their own homes or other alternative residential settings in addition to nursing home care. That’s right! You can live in your own home and be on ALTCS. Some of these great home-based [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Family & Caregiver, Hospitals, Social Workers on Jul 25th, 2008
In Arizona, Medicaid is called AHCCCS – or the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. Arizona uses federal medicaid dollars in a managed care fashion – we call this program AHCCCS (pronounced “access“). The different branches of AHCCCS are for acute care medical benefits and a branch for long-term benefits called Arizona Long Term Care System or [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Asset Protection, Social Workers on Jul 21st, 2008
I am a firm believer that our long-term care system needs to be set up in a way so individuals who are maneuvering through the system for the first time are not overwhelmed or given bad information, thus making their journey throught the system more difficult. Unfortunately, this is not always the case with the ALTCS program. Last [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Asset Protection, Medicare on Jul 18th, 2008
Many people today create Revocable Living Trusts as part of their Estate Planning. While Revocable Living Trusts may not be the best tool for everybody, they do have their place. For example, a Revocable Living Trust can ease the tensions of a complicated estate, involving real property located in a variety of states or blended [...]
As some have heard, the Medicare Qualified Individual (QI) program expired on June 30, 2008. The state of Arizona continued to provide the benefits to current members even though the federal funding was gone.
Good News! The House of Representatives and Senate just passed a bill allowing the program to be continued until December 31, 2009. BUT here’s [...]
Posted in ALTCS on Jul 11th, 2008
The routine dental services that were covered by ALTCS starting last year are being discontinued as of July 31, 2008. WHY, you might ask? Last month, the Arizona House Bill 2209 was signed by the governor which took away the necessary funding to cover routine dental services.
What do you do if you need routine dental services? You are now required [...]
Posted in Alzheimers, Events on Jul 10th, 2008
JacksonWhite Elder Law is a proud sponsor of the Alzheimer’s Association Desert Southwest Chapter. The association’s biggest event, Memory Walk, will be here before we know it. Now is the time to check it out and join or form a team! Visit the chapter’s Web site to sign-up and get more information. When you’re at the event, [...]
Posted in ALTCS on Jul 7th, 2008
As of July 1, 2008, there were changes to ALTCS Eligibility amounts. See this post for specific information on the new numbers and what these changes mean to ALTCS applicants. Below is a list of the current eligibility numbers. The next round of changes will occur in October. Please feel free to call JacksonWhite with questions regarding [...]