Medicaid Planning Strategies

Around the country, a handful of new approaches are being tried to do away with the hospital model for nursing homes and replace it with care that gives meaning to residents' lives, according to an article in the Washington Post.

'Nursing Home Compare,' the government Web site that disseminates information about conditions in individual nursing homes, has major flaws that can mislead families seeking a safe facility, according to a Congressional report. More . . .

A draft federal report showing that nine out of 10 U.S. nursing homes are understaffed is now available for download from the Web. More . . .

The Court of Appeals of Iowa has ruled that a trust that terminates if it causes a Medicaid applicant to be denied benefits should still be counted among the applicant's assets. More . . .

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision allowing states to use what is known as the "income-first" rule. Because of this decision, depending on the state, a community spouse of a Medicaid recipient could quickly be thrown into poverty...

Medicaid 101

A California court says that a nursing home was largely responsible for the injuries of a resident who accidentally set himself on fire while smoking. Lawson v. Skyline Healthcare Center (Cal. Ct. App., 2 App. Dist., B142164, Oct. 3, 2001).

The Medicaid program underpays nursing homes by about $3.5 billion a year, according to a new study commissioned by the American Health Care Association. On average, the shortfall in Medicaid reimbursement exceeds $9 per day for every Medicaid patient in...

More than 100 financial planning calculators are now available at the American Savings Education Council's Web site. The calculators can help with a wide array of financial planning issues, including retirement planning, credit, home mortgages, and budgeting.

On Thursday, June 14, the Bush administration announced that it would rename the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).