Guiding Nursing Home Choices and Future Care
A significant number of Pennsylvanians will encounter the need for long-term care as they age past 65, underscoring the need for early and deliberate planning. At Keystone Elder Law P.C., our first step is to help you understand the array of long-term care options available in Harrisburg. From in-home care services to full-time nursing facilities, each choice carries different implications for your health, your finances, and your family’s future.
Every individual’s situation is unique, and a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work for long-term care planning. Our attorneys listen to your concerns, evaluate your financial position, and tailor a legal strategy that addresses your specific needs. Whether it’s drafting wills, establishing trusts, or navigating the rules of Medicaid eligibility, our support is personalized to provide you with the most effective plan.
When you’re ready to begin the process of long-term care planning, Keystone Elder Law P.C. is here to help navigate the course.
Meet Your Harrisburg Long-Term Care Planning Lawyer
Choosing a Harrisburg long-term care planning attorney is a decision to partner with someone who actively prepares for your future. Our attorneys dedicate themselves to crafting a long-term care plan that caters to the specifics of your lifestyle, health, and financial standing, ensuring that it aligns precisely with your personal objectives.
Our attorneys at Keystone Elder Law P.C. stand out for their in-depth expertise in long-term care planning, grounded in a thorough understanding of the relevant local, state, and federal laws. Our familiarity with Harrisburg’s specific regulations allows us to skillfully navigate you through the planning process, addressing any complexities with informed confidence.
Building a relationship of trust is crucial, especially when it comes to the sensitive matter of long-term care. Our attorneys commit to earning your trust through direct communication, ensuring they are always within reach to respond to your inquiries and resolve your concerns promptly and clearly.
Understanding the Financials
Continuous nursing home care in Pennsylvania can reach $13,000 monthly. A Harrisburg long-term care planning attorney plays a pivotal role in navigating the financial complexities of your care. We analyze your assets, income, and expenses to create a sustainable plan that maximizes the use of available resources and benefits. Our expertise extends to advising on the legalities of Medicaid planning and the implementation of trusts, ensuring your financial stability without compromising your eligibility for assistance.
This is particularly important where the cost of long-term skilled nursing care can rapidly drain savings, and the rules of Medicaid can result in the loss of a family home to estate recovery. Our attorneys provide strategic advice to protect your assets, possibly through the use of trusts or other legal instruments, which must be established well in advance of their need. With our guidance, you can structure your estate in a way that aligns with your long-term care objectives while securing your financial legacy.
Plan your future with a Harrisburg Long-Term Care Planning Attorney
In Harrisburg, comprehensive long-term care strategies crafted with legal expertise go beyond fundamental planning. Our attorneys delve into intricate legal instruments, from advance directives to estate preservation, ensuring your care strategy is robust and personalized. We tackle the nuances of elder law to protect your assets while providing for potential long-term needs. Each plan is meticulously tailored, considering not just immediate care requirements but also future health changes, family dynamics, and financial shifts. The goal is a seamless integration of legal foresight with your life’s blueprint for a secure and well-prepared future.
The prospect of organizing long-term care can be overwhelming, yet with the expert guidance of our adept and empathetic attorneys in Harrisburg at Keystone Elder Law, P.C., the journey is simplified. We will lead you through the intricacies of formulating a protective strategy for yourself and your family. Initiate your pathway to a secure tomorrow by arranging a private, commitment-free meeting today.
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REGISTER HERE for LONG-TERM CARE PLANNINGPower of Attorney
A Power of Attorney can be used to give another person the right to sell a car, home, or other property in the place of the maker of the Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney might be used to allow another person to sign a contract for the maker of the Power of Attorney (the person who makes a power of attorney is called the “principal”). It can be used to give another person the authority to make health care decisions, do financial transactions, or sign legal documents that the principal cannot do for one reason or another. With few exceptions, Powers of Attorney can give others the right to do any legal acts that the makers of the Powers of Attorney could do them themselves. A General Power of Attorney gives the “power of attorney Agent” or simply “Agent” (the legal name of the person who is authorized to act for the principal) very broad powers to do almost every legal act that the principal can do. When Elder Law Attorneys draft general Powers of Attorney, they still list the types of things the Agent can do but these powers are very broad. People often do general Powers of Attorney to plan ahead for the day when they may not be able to take care of things themselves. By doing the General Power of Attorney, they designate someone who can do these things for them.
Normal Powers of Attorney terminate if and when the principal becomes incompetent. Yet many people do Powers of Attorney for the sole purpose of designating someone else to act for them if they cannot act for themselves. It is precisely when persons can no longer do for themselves that a Power of Attorney is most valuable. To remedy this inconsistency, the law created a Durable Power of Attorney that remains effective even if a person becomes incompetent. The only thing that distinguishes a Durable Power of Attorney from a regular Power of Attorney is special wording that states that the power survives the principal’s incapacity. Even a Durable Power of Attorney, however, may be terminated under certain circumstances if court proceedings are filed. Most Powers of Attorney done today are durable.
Yes. At the time the Power of Attorney is signed, the principal must be capable of understanding the document. Although a Power of Attorney is still valid if and when a person becomes incompetent, the principal must understand what he or she is signing at the moment of execution. That means a person can be suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease or be otherwise incompetent sometimes but as long as they have a lucid moment and are competent at the moment they sign the Power of Attorney, it is valid even if they do not remember signing it at a later date. At the time it is signed, the principal must know what the Power of Attorney does, whom they are giving the Power of Attorney to, and what property may be affected by the Power of Attorney.
Any competent person eighteen years of age and older can serve as an agent. Certain financial institutions can also serve. There is no course of education that agent must complete or any test that Agent must pass. Because a Power of Attorney is such a potentially powerful document, agents should be chosen for reliability and trustworthiness. In the wrong hands, a Power of Attorney can be a license to steal. It can be a big responsibility to serve as an agent.
For Medicaid
Medicare is health insurance and covers medical services such as physician appointments, therapy, blood tests, x rays, medical procedures and hospitalization. Medicare will sometime pay for rehabilitation in a long-term care facility for a period of 20 to 100 days, but not longer. In long-term care, Medicaid covers the cost of ongoing support services for daily functioning, such as room and board in a nursing home.
Medicaid is a federal program that is overseen by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In Pennsylvania, Medicaid is called Medical Assistance and is administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS).
In Pennsylvania, Medicaid funds are not available to pay for assisted living or personal care.
For Medicaid to pay for care in a nursing home, an individual recipient must be determined to need a nursing home level of care by a physician and the local Office of Aging. An individual whose income is not greater than three times the poverty level may keep up to $8,000 of total resources, but may otherwise keep only $2,400. The cash value of life insurance counts as a resource, but one car and a residential home does not count as a resource.
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