Your Inside Look at Arizona’s Health Care Community
Posted in Asset Protection, Assisted Living, Family & Caregiver, Hospice on Feb 2nd, 2009
Individuals who want to be cremated should be aware of fairly recent changes to Arizona cremation law. The Arizona legislature passed A.R.S. §32-1365.01 to provide guidance in disputes arising from cremation. It used to be that if a mortuary cremated an individual against the wishes of a loved one, the mortuary was left open to [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Asset Protection, Assisted Living, Family & Caregiver on Jan 29th, 2009
Using joint bank accounts when financing long-term care can be beneficial for many reasons. For example, it can be helpful to establish a joint account from which a son or daughter can draw to help an aging parent with shopping or paying bills. Likewise, seniors in nursing homes might find it useful to establish a joint [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Asset Protection on Jan 16th, 2009
Many people in need of long-term care have questions about long-term care insurance:
What will my long-term care insurance policy cover?
How do I purchase long-term care insurance?
When is the best time to purchase long-term care insurance?
The dilemma here is that long-term care insurance is unlikely to provide a solution in the event of a crisis. However, [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Asset Protection on Jan 14th, 2009
Individuals applying for ALTCS commonly think they can give away $12,000 and become eligible for ALTCS. This belief comes from from the federal estate tax rules, which are much different from ALTCS rules. Although tax rules allow gifting of up to $12,000 per person per year without gift tax consequences, ALTCS rules severely penalize applicants who give [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Asset Protection, Family & Caregiver, Hospice, Probate & Estate Planning, Veterans on Nov 21st, 2008
I was recently introduced to a great resource for anyone dealing with end of life issues and just planning ahead. Hospice of Arizona hosts a weekly radio show on Mondays at 3pm. Tune in to 1100AM KFNX to listen to Marsha Hall and Judy Peters as they host, “We’re There for You.” For those who [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Asset Protection on Nov 13th, 2008
Did you know an ALTCS application can stay in a “pending” status while a Miller/Income-Only Trust is being set up? ALTCS is supposed to notify the applicant that a trust is needed and then give adequate time to set it up. ALTCS is not supposed to deny the application.
If you are told by ALTCS that you will need to withdraw [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Asset Protection, Family & Caregiver on Oct 8th, 2008
Long term care insurance (LTCi) is a wonderful option for those who can afford it, or have purchased it early. LTCi is an effective way to pay for long term care – if the daily rate it pays out covers all of your costs. But what happens when you have insurance that pays only a portion of the daily [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Asset Protection on Sep 26th, 2008
Myth: If my income is over $1,911, I can not get on ALTCS.
Truth: It is true that ALTCS has income limits. Currently, this amount is set at $1,911 but this number increases annually every January 1st. However, if one’s income is above this limit, an applicant can establish a Miller/Income-Only Trust and still be qualified [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Asset Protection, Social Workers on Sep 8th, 2008
When applying for ALTCS benefits, applicants are often told they need to “spend down” before they will be considered eligible. What does this mean? For a single applicant, their assets must be below $2,000 to be eligible. For the married applicant, the rules are very different but the spend down could be as much as [...]
Posted in ALTCS, Asset Protection, Probate & Estate Planning on Sep 5th, 2008
In the past twelve months, the housing market seems to have slowed to a grinding halt. This has caused more concerns than normal for clients in need of long-term care. With assets and pensions funds diminishing with the falling market and houses not selling, more and more clients are in need of turning to Medicaid/ALTCS [...]