Christopher B. Kroll & Associates – Elder Law Solutions

     In 1987, Congress enacted the Nursing Home Reform Law that has been incorporated into the Medicare and Medicaid regulations.  The law gives residents a number of specific rights, including:

• Residents have the right to be free of unnecessary physical or chemical restraints.

• Facilities must inform residents of the name, specialty, and means of contacting the physician responsible for the resident’s care.  Residents have the right to participate in care planning meetings.

• At the time of admission and during the stay, nursing homes must fully inform residents of the services available in the facility, and of related charges.

• Residents may bring personal possessions to the nursing home, such as clothing, furnishings and jewelry.

• Nursing home residents may not be moved to a different room, a different nursing home, a hospital, back home or anywhere else without advance notice, an opportunity for appeal and a showing that such a move is in the best interest of the resident or necessary for the health of other nursing home residents.

• Residents have the right to gain access to all his or her records within one business day, and a right to copies of those records at a cost that is reasonable in that community

     The Military Order of the Purple Heart now offers job training to combat wounded and disabled Veterans through the Veterans Vocational Technical Institute (VVTI).  Candidates accepted into the program are trained for the virtual Purple Heart Call Center (PHCC) and help desk.  The Purple Heart Call Center is an international contact center / call center and help desk consulting firm.    The PHCC virtual (at-home) agents provide companies an on-demand approach to their specific needs.  Unlike many other call center / help desk centers, the PHCC agents are trained through an extensive course (12-15 weeks) ensuring that the agents as a whole are fully trained and motivated to succeed, resulting in a lower attrition rate.  Outside companies contract with Purple Heart Services to provide call center support and service.  By employing the PHCC via a contact, a company provides steady employment to combat wounded, disabled veterans, and their spouses. 

     This year VVTI is also offering contract specific training to spouses of active duty members in the armed forces.

     For more information, visit the following website:  http://www.vvti.org/

Hospice is a special way of caring for people who are terminally ill, and for their family.  This care includes physical care and counseling. 

 You are eligible for hospice benefits when:

• You are eligible for Medicare Part A (hospital insurance); and

• Your doctor and the hospice medical director certify that you are terminally ill and probably have less than six months to live; and

• You  sign a statement choosing hospice care instead of routine Medicare covered benefits for your terminal illness; and

• You receive care from a Medicare-approved hospice program.

Your doctor and the hospice will work with you and your family to set up a plan of care that meets your needs.  The care the hospice gives you is meant to help you make the most of the last months of life by giving you comfort and relief from pain.  The focus is on care, not cure.

     Advance directives are legal documents that allow you to put in writing what kind of health care you would want if you were too ill to speak for yourself.  Advance directives most often include the following:

• A health care proxy (durable power of attorney)

• A living will

• After-death wishes

      A health care power of attorney is used to name the person you wish to make health care decisions for you if you aren’t able to make them yourself.  A living will states which medical treatment you would accept or refuse if your life is threatened.  After-death wishes include choices such as organ and tissue donation.    

     Talking with your family, friends, and health care providers about your wishes is important, but these legal documents ensure that decisions are followed.  It’s better to think about these important decisions before you are ill or a crisis strikes.

Question:  My Will was drafted ten years ago and the witnesses worked at a bank that is no longer in business.  Is my will still valid?

Answer:  It’s unlikely that the witnesses will ever be involved in your estate unless the will is contested. If you’re still concerned, you should consult with an estate planning attorney. On the other hand, since your will was prepared a decade ago and has not been reviewed, perhaps it’s time to ask a lawyer to review it to make sure it’s still valid. Much has happened in the last 10 years. Even if your family and financial situation haven’t changed, the estate tax regulations and the inheritance tax regulations in many states have changed.

In addition to a will, a basic estate plan usually includes a “durable power of attorney,” which delegates the power to legally handle your financial affairs should you become incapacitated, and an “advance directive,” which lets you legally direct your health care preferences in the event of your incapacity or terminal illness. Involving a lawyer, which may not cost as much as you think, gives you the added advantage of having someone to consult if your situation changes or if you hear about a change in the regulations that might apply to you.

     With Senate Democrats unable to persuade Republicans to extend the 2009 estate tax law for even a couple of months until a more permanent solution could be devised, there is currently no tax on the estates of those dying during 2010.  Although congress may reinstate the tax retroactively in 2010, perhaps as part of broader tax reform, this is by no means a certainty.

     If Congress fails to act, a few thousand very wealthy families will have reason to celebrate, while tens of thousands of taxpayers of more modest means will pay capital gains on inherited assets–and executors will face additional and confusing administrative burdens.  And if Congress does change the law retroactively, extensive litigation over inheritances is almost guaranteed.

     Congress has had nine years to prevent this from happening but hasn’t been able to.  Under the provisions of a bill enacted in 2001, the value of estates exempt from the tax has been gradually raised over the past eight years while the tax rate on estates has been reduced.  In 2009, only estates valued at $3.5 million or more were taxed at a rate of 45 percent.  For 2010, according to the 2001 law, the estate tax disappears entirely, only to be restored in 2011 at a rate of 55 percent on estates of $1 million or more.