Have you ever wondered why some physicians accept Medicaid patients and others do not?  The policy is largely based on a health care provider’s willingness to accept payments from the Medicaid program – an arduous and sometimes money-losing endeavor.  And the process just got harder.


A recent Supreme Court decision could potentially inhibit medical care provided to Medicaid recipients.  The Court held that medical providers could not sue states for unfair reimbursement rates for services provided to Medicaid recipients. 

Historically Medicaid reimbursement rates have been low compared to that under Medicare or private health insurance.  According to the American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals the cost of providing care to Medicaid beneficiaries in 2012 exceeded reimbursements by $13.7 billion.

After the Supreme Court decision, if a state is not providing fair reimbursement rates the only recourse Medicaid providers have is to report it to the U.S. agency that oversees the joint federal-state program, the Department of Health and Human Services.  The only recourse that agency has is to withhold all Medicaid funds from the state, something that has never happened and is not likely to happen now. 

Physician willingness to participate in the Medicaid program is largely dependent upon reimbursement rates. Many are concerned that an inability to effectively request fair reimbursement rates may reduce medical care available to an already vulnerable group of individuals.

We will continue to monitor this and other news that affects seniors and persons with disabilities in Indiana.  If you have questions about paying for your medical care, we are here to help.

Here at Elder Law, we know that one of the most important things we can do to honor our clients with dementia and Alzheimer’s is to respect them and their wishes as much as possible. We care about protecting your rights and your dignity.  We of course strive to stay up to date on the changing laws of aging, but we also work hard to educate ourselves on the newest strategies to support our clients.

Recently, the American Bar Association published training materials on creating Dementia-Friendly Communities and Dementia Capable Professionals.  We would like to share some of the best tips we found on empowering adults with diminished capacity.  

If you have questions about empowering the senior in your life who may be dealing with diminished capacity, the attorneys at Elder Law are here to help.

 Empowering a Person with Diminished Capacity

• Assume that the person can, not that they cannot
• Live in the moment
• Talk with the person
• Honor long term patterns, values, and goals
  
• Offer choices and let the person make choices on non-critical issues
  
• Redirect communications

                    Word finding
                    Offer a list of options
                    Look for meaning in the context
                    It will come to you in a minute
                    We will come back to that later
                    It wasn’t that important

• Understand the person’s reality
  
• The facts may not overcome perception
  
• Logic, reasoning, and facts may only frustrate
  
• Redirect: "not now," "we will (do/talk about) this later"
  
• Ask what they want, and do your best to honor their wishes 

For more information, you can visit the American Bar Association website and view their report: ABA - Dementia Friendly Communities and Professionals

Thanks for allowing us to be a part of your journey through care giving.

Best,

Whittley Pike, Associate Attorney

With Valentine's Day around the corner, we are thinking about the ways we can share the love.  What we quickly realized is that caregivers spend a lot of time giving love and support, but are not always recognized for their efforts.

At Elder Law, we strive every day to support caregivers just like you.  People who are working hard to maintain their loved one's legal rights, health, and finances while still somehow juggling their personal commitments.  

If you are not already a caregiver, you may not be familiar with how much of an impact it can have on your life. According to research published this week, caregivers spend an average of 20.4 hours per week caring for their loved one and between $4,570 and $8,728 per year in out of pocket expenses.  What is more, there are significant numbers of caregivers who report damage to their own health as a result of the care they provide for a loved one.

To read more about this issue, see this Article from the National Conference of State Legislators and brought to our attention by our friends at Indiana AARP.
 
Care-giving is a big task and can be overwhelming.  Just as the old adage "It takes a village to raise a child," we believe it takes a village to provide care for an elder person.  That is why we are here to support you, help you navigate the legal system, and connect you with community resources.  At the end of the day, we want to take care of you, so that you can focus on caring for your loved one.  

Take a moment to celebrate the caregivers in your life.  We are grateful for you and we hope you feel the love.

Until next time, 

Whittley Pike, Associate Attorney

A lot of things are changing at Elder Law.  

We added a new associate to our team.  In October of 2014, Whittley Lewis Pike joined our staff as a full time associate attorney.  She had previously worked as our law clerk while finishing up law school.  

We are also increasing our practice areas.  In 2015, we will be offering services to clients who need assistance with Social Security Disability claims.  We have been hard at work making sure to educate ourselves on the latest happenings in this field of law.

Also new this year is our mission statement.  We took the time to sit down and really focus on what our mission is here at Elder Law.  There are a lot of different issues we help clients face.  Ultimately, the reason we entered into this practice area is because we want to help caretakers and their families in time of crisis.  We boiled this all down into our mission statement: “Elder Law LLC is a holistic law practice coordinating legal, financial, and health care solutions for family members so they can focus on caring for their loved one.”

One thing that has not changed and will continue to stay the same for years to come, is our commitment to serving our clients.  We will always strive to educate ourselves on the ever-changing face of the law.  We will always communicate well with our clients.  Most importantly, we will always work with compassion to achieve the best result for our clients in any given situation.

Cheers to a new year!  We hope the changes you have coming down the pike are exciting as well.  If you need help navigating the changes coming your way, the attorneys at Elder Law are here to help.