The alleged actions of a hospice owner in Texas may call into question the way in which Medicare and Medicaid reimburse hospices for patient care. Hospices are supposed to offer humane end-of-life care for their patients. They are not supposed to hasten the deaths of those patients. However, the system might unintentionally encourage a hospice [...]
For most elderly people Social Security is an important part of their incomes after retiring. Getting the biggest benefit that you can get is therefore important. If you have worked hard and paid into the Social Security system your entire life, then you deserve to get as much out of the system as you can. [...]
In a disturbing ruling an appeals court in Iowa decided that the state had no duty to protect nursing home residents after it placed a sexual predator in the facility. William Cubbage was a dangerous sexual predator confined in Iowa's treatment program for its most dangerous offenders. However, the state of Iowa petitioned a court [...]
In addition to health hazards elderly hoarders often face eviction and expensive clean-up bills. In the last few years the problem of hoarders has been brought to the public's attention thanks to television shows about the people with the issue. Hoarders are people who collect and keep everything. Their homes become so full of stuff [...]
A London-based law firm is the latest plaintiff to sue the estate of Michael Jackson. It has been several years since Michael Jackson passed away, but his estate is still being sued by his creditors. The most recent case involves a U.K. law firm that claims it did legal work worth $200,000 for Jackson in [...]
Medicaid's safeguards to prevent a transfer of assets to gain qualification can create challenges for those seeking assistance. Medicaid is designed to help those who can't help themselves and to help those who don't have sufficient assets for the entire time that health care services are needed. However, difficulties can arise when fraud is suspected. [...]
Positive results from a pilot program to prevent diabetes lead to the possibility of Medicare paying for patients to enroll in the program. Experts have long believed that health care costs could be reduced if the focus could be switched from treating a disease to preventing people from getting the disease. Figuring out what prevention [...]
The terms guardian and conservator are often used interchangeably. They do, however, have different meanings traditionally. It might seem to some people that the law loves nothing more than to be confusing to laypersons. In some states, a guardian is needed to take care of an elderly person who can no longer take care of [...]
Some of the possessions of former Speaker of the House Jim Wright were part of an estate sale in Texas recently. The items sold have some interest for collectors of historical artifacts. Jim Wright spent 34 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and eventually served as the Speaker of the House. He resigned in [...]
Analysts and entrepreneurs have recently hyped up what they call the sharing economy. Older Americans might be able to take advantage of it if they need extra income or are looking for a place to live. Services such as Uber and AirBnB have plenty of cheerleaders and detractors. On the one hand, they allow people [...]