Long-term care costs can add up quickly. For veterans and the surviving spouses of veterans who need in-home care or are in a nursing home, help may be available. The Veterans Administration (VA) has an underused pension benefit called Aid and Attendance that provides money to those who need assistance performing everyday tasks. Even veterans
Do you have the right Medicare plan? It is fall, which means it is time to think about whether your current plan is still giving you the best coverage or whether a new plan could save you money or offer better coverage. Medicare's Open Enrollment Period, during which you can freely enroll in or switch
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has finalized new rules that make it more difficult to qualify for long-term care benefits. The rules establish an asset limit, a look-back period, and asset transfer penalties for claimants applying for VA pension benefits that require a showing of financial need. The principal such benefit for those needing
While the new tax law doubles the federal estate tax exemption, meaning the vast majority of estates will not have to pay any federal estate tax, it doesn't mean you should ignore its impact on your estate plan. In December 2017, Republicans in Congress and President Trump doubled the federal estate tax exemption to $11.18 million
Q: My wife may need to go into a nursing home and apply for Medicaid in a little more than five years. She has $930 a month in Social Security and no other income. She does have term life insurance policies of $180,000. I have a pension of $3,500 a month, income through work of $100,000
By Judith Graham “Don’t resuscitate this patient; he has a living will,” the nurse told the doctor, Monica Williams-Murphy, handing her a document. Williams-Murphy looked at the sheet bearing the signature of the unconscious 78-year-old man, who had been rushed from a nursing home to the emergency room. “Do everything possible,” it read, with a check
By Greg Iacurci The cost increases, approved by regulators in the second quarter, affect roughly $160 million of in-force premiums Genworth Financial Inc. received approval from state regulators this year to raise costs an average 58% on some long-term-care insurance policies, affecting tens of millions of dollars' worth of annual insurance premiums the company receives from consumers.
By WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE It may be possible in the future to screen patients for Alzheimer's disease using an eye exam. Using technology similar to what is found in many eye doctors' offices, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have detected evidence suggesting Alzheimer's in older patients who had no
By Shaun Hunley There are no fewer than 130 new tax provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, according to Shaun Hunley, a technical editor of PPC products for Thomson Reuters Checkpoint in the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters, but with tax practitioners starting to focus on helping clients address the act’s impact, he
Trustees of special needs trusts generally have wide discretion in determining whether to distribute funds to trust beneficiaries. But if the person with disabilities receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI), careful precautions should be taken before any trust funds are used to pay for housing costs. For the year 2018, federal guidelines set the maximum monthly SSI benefit at $750
