Keystone Blog
Do You Need an Irrevocable Funeral Trust?
An Irrevocable Funeral Trust (IFT) is a useful tool for people who are facing the high cost of skilled nursing care. The IFT is an eligible expense during the Medicaid spend-down process. It sets aside sufficient assets so that a surviving family...
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5 Myths: Nursing Home Costs & Estate Plans
As we observe Elder Law Month in May, it seems appropriate to share some common misunderstandings or myths about nursing homes and long-term care. I apologize in advance if I step on toes or offend sensibilities of what is politically correct. Remember that the role...
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Who Needs Elder Law?
May is Elder Law Month, according to the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). If you have been reading our weekly column in The Sentinel, you have a pretty good idea of what elder law is. But here is a definition provided by NAELA: “Elder law is a...
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FAQ About Medicaid for Long-Term Care
Note: Medicaid regulations vary from state to state. This information is based on regulations in Pennsylvania. What is the difference between Medicare and Medicaid? Medicare is health insurance and covers medical services such as physician...
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Post-Acute Care: Resolving the Crisis Part II
Planning for post-acute care following the hospitalization of an older adult can be confusing. Some of the challenges which families experience were discussed in last week’s column. A lack of knowledge about options for this type of care is one challenge...
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Post-Acute Care: Resolving the Crisis Part I
When an older adult has been hospitalized and follow-up care is needed after discharge, families are often bewildered by how to locate, access, and pay for this care. Compared to younger adults, older adults require additional time to recover from a fall, acute...
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Spring Caregiving
Spring is a season of renewal for most of us. But for some whose time and attention is focused on the needs of an increasingly frail older person in the family, it can be harder to appreciate the sight of robins and the fragrant blossoms which they foreshadow....
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Stopping the Spinning: Therapy for Dizziness
A conversation about falls would not be complete without mentioning the condition of dizziness. Dizzy is a term which is often used to describe a variety of sensations such as feeling dazed, light-headed, groggy, woozy, out-of-it, or that the room is spinning...
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Slip, Trip, Stumble, Tumble
Understanding fall risk is an important aspect of fall prevention. There are a number of assessment tools which can help identify potential risk. These tools consider various factors which can influence the likelihood of a fall and assign certain scores to each...
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Older Adults: Are You At Risk?
Can you guess what will happen to one out of every four Americans age 65 and older this year? Every 11 seconds, this same situation will cause an emergency room visit for an older adult, and every 19 minutes an older adult will die as a result of this situation....
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