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E L D E R L A W - Articles by Alison Hirschel, MPLP Elder Law Attorney Home Help Cuts Rescinded: New Policy Issued At the urging of advocates and as a result of the threat of possible litigation, the Michigan Department of Community Health continues to alter its proposed Home Help program reductions. State Agrees to Grant Medicare Eligible Nursing Home Residents the Right to Return to their Medicaid Only Bed after a Hospital Stay Federal law clearly provides that dually eligible nursing home residents have the right to return to a Medicaid only bed in a nursing home after a hospital stay even if their Medicare coverage entitled them to care in a Medicare certified bed. Governor Delays Appointing Members to the Medicaid Long Term Care Task Force According to the Settlement Agreement in Eager, et al. v. Engler,et al. concerning the MiChoice Home and Community Based Waiver program, Governor Granholm .was to appoint a Long Term Care Task Force by April 2, 2004. Although the Governor did issue a lengthy and helpful Executive Order on April 1 (Executive Order 2004-1) creating the Task Force, she has not yet named the 21 members who will serve on the Task Force . New Information Available for Consumers About the Medicare Drug Discount Card The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published two new guides for Medicare beneficiaries designed to assist them in choosing a Medicare-approved Drug Discount Card. The guides, "Introducing Medicare-Approved Drug Discount Cards" and "Choosing Medicare-Approved Drug Discount Card" are available at the Medicare website, Quick Updates: Estate Recovery, Feeding Assistants in Nursing Homes, Office of Services to the Aging Guide, study on direct care workers. |
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Medical Insurance Mistakes Cost Millions The Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MiSDU) is the agency responsible for the collection and disbursement of child support. As you may already know, because Michigan was slow to develop the kind of agency mandated by the federal government, the state was fined millions of dollars and finally made a decision to design and fully implement the system by the fall of 2003. Powers of Attorney Extended for Deployed Military Parents serving in the armed forces have often used a power of attorney to provide for their children. In recent years this has worked efficiently and, if an extension was needed, it was not too difficult to execute another. With the deployment of military personnel to Afghanistan and Iraq for longer periods of time, it has been difficult and even impossible for parents to comply with the law. Domestic Violence Causes Risk Assessment “Whenever you charge someone with domestic violence I want you to make a referral to me if there are children in the home,” said a Children’s Protective Services worker to the local prosecutor. In defending her position, the workerhas stated it is abusive to children to see their parent abused.
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Summary of Recent Appellate Decisions Severe Cuts to Voucher Program Inevitable Because of HUD Policy ChangeSeveral weeks after alerting some (but not all) local public housing agencies/commissions (PHAs) about its ominous contents, on April 22, HUD officially issued Notice PIH 2004-7 Substantial
Increases to Costs Available in Summary Proceedings Enacted
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Social Security Protection Act Signed into Law On March 2, 2004, President Bush signed into law the Social Security Protection Act, P.L. 108-203. This bipartisan law will make a number of important improvements for people with disabilities in the Supplemental Medical Records Act Signed by Governor Grandholm For many years advocates have been seeking to have legislation passed that would entitle indigent people to one free copy of their medical records. In the past, the cost of obtaining copies of one's records was not regulated. |
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The Revolution Will Be Syndicated Ask a gadget geek about the most important recent technology development for the future of television, and he'll probably talk your ear off about DVRs (Digital Video Recorders), the most common being the Tivo. Ask any web geek about the most important recent technology for the future of the web, and she'll talk your ear off about RSS. |
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