Experience Matters…Certification Matters
Long-Term Care Planners Kristin Daugherty and Tammy Zilske are two of the only three certified in Pennsylvania as Certified Medicaid Planners™
Qualifying for Medicaid long-term care benefits is not a “Do It Yourself Project.” The goal of the Federal Deficit Act of 2005, implemented on February 8, 2006, was to reduce the amount of those qualifying for Medicaid benefits by imposing a five year gifting look-back rule and changing how the gifting penalty was calculated. A simple wedding gift could create a Medicaid ineligibility period and cause an unpaid nursing home bill making children vulnerable to cover the bill.
Kristin Daugherty and Tammy Zilske as Certified Medicaid Planners™ work alongside the experienced and knowledgeable attorneys of Steinbacher, Goodall & Yurchak to help clients of the firm develop and implement a legal and financial plan that allows them to both qualify for Medicaid long-term care benefits while protecting their assets. Protecting assets is possible even if you have not planned in advance of a health care crisis, but pre-planning provides a much better outcome.
Kristin Daugherty has been with the firm for more than five years. She primarily assists clients out of the State College office. Prior to her employment at the firm, she was a case manager with an Agency on Aging.
Tammy Zilske has been with the firm for more than 10 years. She primarily assists clients out of the Williamsport office. Prior to her employment at the firm, she was a hospice social worker, and a case manager with an Agency on Aging.
Steinbacher, Goodall & Yurchak elder care and special needs law firm has two convenient locations in Williamsport and State College for your FREE consultation. You can reach either office by calling 1-800-351-8334.
Pennsylvania Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE Act)
Brittany L. Moore, Esquire
In 2014, the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE Act) opened a door at the federal level to give each state the opportunity to set up programs for people with disabilities and their families to establish tax-advantaged savings accounts without impacting the disabled individual’s public benefits.
On April 18, 2016, Governor Wolf signed the Pennsylvania Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (PA ABLE Act). The PA ABLE Act was passed to provide more financial options and security to individuals whom became disabled prior to age 26. This is to be accomplished through savings accounts established for benefit of the disabled individual in which funds may accumulate tax-free to pay for qualified disability expenses without jeopardizing their eligibility for need-based programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid.
Recent Changes to Pennsylvania’s Power of Attorney Law
A power of attorney (“POA”) is a foundational estate planning document that allows another individual to act and make decisions on your behalf. Such authority is especially important if you ever lose mental capacity or are unable to act. In the written POA, the individual executing the document (the “principal”) appoints another individual (the “agent”) to make financial or health care decisions for the principal. Durable powers of attorney are not affected by the subsequent incapacity of the principal.
If you have an existing power of attorney, you may already be well acquainted with the document. However, you may not be aware of recent changes to Pennsylvania’s law governing financial powers of attorney.
Recently, the law in Pennsylvania changed as it relates to powers of attorney that deal with financial directives. Act 95 was signed into law in July 2014 by Governor Tom Corbett. Parts of the law became effective immediately and the remaining portions were effective as of January 1, 2015.
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