Nursing Home Discrimination Against Medicaid Recipients

While it is illegal for a nursing home to discriminate against a Medicaid recipient, it still happens. To prevent such discrimination, nursing home residents and their families need to know their rights. The potential for discrimination arises because Medicaid pays nursing homes less than the facilities receive from residents who pay privately with their own funds and less than Medicare pays....

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Non-compete Clauses

Although non-compete clauses have become common in non-fiction publishing, they are not appropriate in novel publishing agreements.  Unfortunately, I have too often seen sweeping non-compete terms in fiction agreements, especially with small and independent presses that “cut and paste” contract provisions from online samples.  In some circumstances, these non-compete provisions can unreasonably...

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Medicaid’s Benefits for Assisted Living Facility Residents

Assisted living facilities are a housing option for people who can still live independently but who need some assistance.  Costs can range from $2,000 to more than $6,000 a month, depending on location. Medicare won’t pay for this type of care, but Medicaid might.  Almost all state Medicaid programs will cover at least some assisted living costs for eligible residents. Unlike with nursing home...

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Does Your Estate Plan Include An Unnecessary Bypass Trust?

A once-popular estate planning tool may now cost families more in taxes than it saves. Changes in the estate tax have made the “bypass trust” a less appealing option for many families.  If your estate plan includes a bypass trust not drafted by this office, you should reconsider its necessity because it could be doing more harm than good. (Our office typically drafts bypass drafts...

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Four Social Security Myths Debunked

There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding the Social Security system. Here are four common myths and the truth about how Social Security works and its future prospects. Myth 1: You Should Collect Benefits Early This is one of the biggest Social Security myths. In 2015, more than half of Social Security recipients began collecting benefits before their full retirement age (66 for those born...

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