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Once someone enters a nursing home, it isn’t always easy to move out again. While some residents may prefer nursing home care to living on their own, others would rather be independent. For residents who want to move out but need some assistance to live on their own, there may be help available. A federal Read Full Article

In welcome news for seniors and the disabled with chronic conditions, two federal courts in the past two months have ruled that Medicare’s coverage of skilled care does not require a beneficiary to show improvement. Instead, both courts said that Medicare can pay for skilled care if it is needed simply to preserve a patient’s Read Full Article

Social Security benefits may be stagnant, but the IRS is increasing the amount you can deduct on your 2011 taxes as a result of buying long-term care insurance. Premiums for “qualified” long-term care insurance policies (see explanation below) are tax deductible provided that they, along with other unreimbursed medical expenses, exceed 7.5 percent of the Read Full Article

Victoria Collier. 47 Secret Veterans’ Benefits for Seniors. Collier Communications, LLC. Scottdale, GA. 2010. 110 Pages. $14.95 from Amazon (Click on book to order) Many veterans don’t realize all the benefits available to them and their family members. 47 Secret Veterans’ Benefits for Seniors provides older veterans and their advocates with insider tips to help Read Full Article

The basic premium for Medicare Part B will be $115.40 a month in 2011, up from $110.50 in 2010 (a 4.4 percent increase). But because there will be no cost of living benefit increase for Social Security recipients for 2011, most beneficiaries will be exempted from paying this increase and will instead pay the same Read Full Article

A durable power of attorney and a health care proxy are two very important estate planning documents. Both allow other people to make decisions for you in the event you are incapacitated. Because the individuals chosen will have to coordinate your care, it is important to pick two people who will get along. A power Read Full Article

A growing number of Medicare beneficiaries are spending days in the hospital before being transferred to a nursing home, only to find that Medicare won’t pay for the first 20 days of their nursing home stay, as it typically would. The reason, the beneficiaries later learn, is that they had never actually been “admitted” to Read Full Article

Nursing home and assisted living rates rose significantly from 2009 to 2010, according to the 2010 MetLife Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs. Private room nursing home rates rose 4.6 percent to $83,585 a year or $229 a day, while assisted living facility costs climbed 5.2 percent on average to $39,516 a year or $3,293 Read Full Article

Andrew Mayoras & Danielle Mayoras. Trial and Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights. Wise Circle Books. Long Beach, CA. 2009. 277 pages. $19.95 from Amazon (click on book to order). Can we learn anything about estate planning from Jimi Hendrix, Princess Di, and Sonny Bono? Yes! Written by a husband-and-wife attorney team, Trial and Heirs uses fascinating Read Full Article