Current Size: 100%
Public Benefit Forum Posts
Public Benefit Legal Resources
Obamacare Exchanges Are Doing OK Despite Withdrawls of Some Insurance Companies
The high profile withdrawals of a few national insurers from Obamacare exchanges have some experts wondering whether the exchanges are entering a death spiral. The companies’ reports of large losses have led to speculation that the exchanges are unsustainable... Despite the losses suffered by some insurance companies, many others are turning a profit according to a recent report by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
Elder Law articles
The MSBA Bar Bulletin, April 15, 2018, has a lot of good substantive articles on elder law topics - Adv Directives and MOLST, Guardianship changes, Social Security Disability changes, ABLE, new Medicare cards and MA-LTC rules about protecting the home under the Parental Care Rule.
New Budget Increases Some Programs for the Elderly
From Justice in Aging:
|
||
|
New Budget Increases Some Programs for the Elderly
From Justice in Aging:
|
||
|
SSA's Data on Hearing Delays at Office of Hearings Operations (formerly ODAR) Locations
The Soc. Sec. Admin. releases data the average time (in months) from the date of the hearing request until a hearing was held for cases closed in the Office of Hearings Operations' hearing offices or national hearing centers.
Baltimore City 17 months
Natiional Hearing Cntr, Balt. 17.5 months
Dover, DE 17 months
Morgantown, WV 21 months
Washington 20 months
Social Security and SSI benefits to increase by 2% in 2018
The Social Security Administration has announced that based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2016 through the third quarter of 2017, monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will increase 2.0 percent in 2018.
The 2.0 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 61 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2018. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 29, 2017.
The monthly SSI Federal Payment Standard will increase to $750 for an individual and to $1125 for a couple.
The Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) monthly threshold will be $1180. The Trial Work Period (TWP) monthly threshold will be $850.
One will need to earn $1320 in 2018 to receive credit for a quarter of coverage.
Here is a link to a fact sheet that contains more facts and figures for Social Security benefits in 2018: https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/colafacts2018.pdf
Social Security and SSI benefits to increase by 2% in 2018
The Social Security Administration has announced that based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2016 through the third quarter of 2017, monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will increase 2.0 percent in 2018.
The 2.0 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 61 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2018. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 29, 2017.
The monthly SSI Federal Payment Standard will increase to $750 for an individual and to $1125 for a couple.
The Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) monthly threshold will be $1180. The Trial Work Period (TWP) monthly threshold will be $850.
One will need to earn $1320 in 2018 to receive credit for a quarter of coverage.
Here is a link to a fact sheet that contains more facts and figures for Social Security benefits in 2018: https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/colafacts2018.pdf
2017 Welfare Advocates Conference
The 2017 Welfare Advocates Conference is coming up on November 2 at the Radisson Hotel in Timonium, MD. This year, we are excited that our keynote speaker will be Marc Steiner, and he'll be talking about how to amplify the stories and voices of individuals who are marginalized. We are also having an interactive closing plenary where local leaders –including the CEOs of United Way, Catholic Charities, Advocates for Children and Youth, and the Jobs Opportunity Task Force - are being pitched the question "How Do We End Poverty?" that they’ll each answer from their own perspectives. Our theme this year is Casting a Wide Net, speaking to the need for inclusivity in our organizations, in our communities, and in our policies. Along that theme, we are having workshops on assisting our immigrant neighbors, working with LGBTQ youth, and violence prevention efforts in West Baltimore, among others. Our 1-day conference also offers 5 Category 1 CEUs for social workers! Need more convincing? On top of a delicious Italian lunch, we have incredible door prizes this year including (for the first time) tickets to the National Aquarium, tickets to see Madam Butterfly, two different ski packages at two different resorts, and several area restaurant gift cards!
For more information - and to register - please follow this link: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07eemdqtmk39.... It's really a great conference and we hope to see you there!
Social Security Adds Three Health Conditions to the Compassionate Allowance List.
The Social Security Administration has added three new Compassionate Allowances conditions:
CACH--Vanishing White Matter Disease-Infantile and Childhood Onset Forms
Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy, and
Kleefstra Syndrome
Compassionate Allowances are a way to quickly identify serious diseases and other medical conditions that meet Social Security's standards for disability benefits.
The Compassionate Allowances program identifies claims where the applicant’s disease or condition clearly meets Social Security’s statutory standard for disability. Many of these claims are allowed based on medical confirmation of the diagnosis alone, for example pancreatic cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and acute leukemia.
For more information about the program, including a list of all Compassionate Allowances conditions, please click here
or go to https://www.ssa.gov/compassionateallowances/conditions.htm.
Changes in the Affordable Care Act special enrollment periods effective on June 19, 2017. The reference chart link is helpful.
From the Centeron Budget & Policy Priorities:
The Marketplace open enrollment period is the regular time each year when people can newly enroll in a qualified health plan or change to a different plan through the Marketplace. But certain events that occur during the year can trigger a special enrollment period (SEP), when a person may be able to newly enroll in a Marketplace plan or change to a different plan.
This SEP Reference Chart is a tool for those who are helping people enroll in health coverage through a special enrollment period. It focuses on the circumstances that trigger a SEP in the Marketplace, who can trigger a SEP, and the effective date of coverage once a health plan is selected.
http://www.healthreformbeyondthebasics.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/SEP-Reference-Chart.pdf
World Elder Abuse Awreness Day - Randallstown Community Center
Date:
Thu, 06/15/2017 (All day)
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| WEAAD Flyer 2017.pdf | 640.42 KB |
Medicaid Cuts in House ACA Repeal Bill Would Limit Availability of Home and Community Based Services
From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
The House-passed bill to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which the Senate is now considering, would make home-and community-based services (HCBS) that states fund through Medicaid especially vulnerable to deep cuts. The House bill would radically restructure Medicaid’s federal financing and effectively end the ACA’s Medicaid expansion
Facing steep cuts in their overall federal Medicaid funding, states would likely curtail HCBS programs, which in 2013 allowed almost 3 million seniors and adults and children with disabilities to receive care at home instead of in a nursing home.
The share of Medicaid expenditures for long-term services and supports that states allocate to HCBS has climbed from 18 percent in 1995 to 53 percent in 2014, with the number of people served with HCBS rising dramatically as well. States now spend more for HCBS than for nursing home care.
The House bill —officially the American Health Care Act (AHCA) —would place a fixed cap on per-beneficiary federal Medicaid funding, cutting federal funding to the states by growing amounts over time. Capping and cutting federal funding would force many states to make excruciating decisions on whom they cover because unlike most services in Medicaid, which states must cover, most HCBS are optional Medicaid benefits that states can cut when they face funding shortfalls.
The services that states provide in their HCBS programs vary, but they generally provide home health services plus help with chores, meals, transportation, and other services such as adult day care and respite care for family caregivers. Most states already limit HCBS due to funding constraints, and HCBS are a likely target if states must make substantial cuts due to federal funding shortfalls, because they spend more on optional HCBS than on any other optional benefit. The AHCA would therefore likely generate large increases in HCBS waiting lists.
Read more on how the proposed fixed cap on per-beneficiary funding will result in reduced federal Medicaid payments to the states: http://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/5-18-17health.pdf
Affordable Care Act Still in Place Despite House Actions
From the Center on Budge tand Policy Priorities:
"It is important to emphasize that, at this time, the ACA is still law and its provisions are still in place. People’s coverage hasn’t changed, and open enrollment is on schedule for November."
On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care
Act (AHCA). The bill now moves to the Senate, where the bill will likely
change and then to a conference committee or a vote on the Senate bill in
the House.
This process will take time, and we have no way of knowing now what
provisions, if any, will be enacted and signed into law. We do know that
many people who gained coverage due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are
confused and worried about what is going to happen to their coverage. It
is important to emphasize that, at this time, the ACA is still law and
its provisions are still in place. People’s coverage hasn’t changed, and
open enrollment is on schedule for November.
As passed by the House, the AHCA would dramatically
reverse the gains in coverage that we’ve made since the
passage of the ACA. For an in-depth look at the key provisions in the
AHCA, please see a summary of
the AHCA from our friends at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
We will continue to follow the progress of this bill, and will keep you
informed of any updates as it proceeds through the Senate. The
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities website at www.cbpp.org
includes numerous papers and resources on the AHCA and is updated on an
almost daily basis with new material.
|
|
Trump Administration Gives Money to Florida Hospitals Instead of Encouraging Medicaid Expansion
The Trump Administration will increase the amount of money in the uncompensated care fund for hospitals rather than encourage Florida to to give health insurance to low income people through the Medcaid expansion. Instead of having a broad range of health care services covered by medical insurance (Medicaid) hospitals will have more of their uncompensated care covered when people show up in their emergency medical departments.
Read more at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/30/us/politics/medicaid-expansion-trump-obama-florida.html?_r=0
NHeLP's Protect Medicaid Webinar Series
Webinar - Fri, Mar 17, 2017 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT
National Health Law Program's Protect Medicaid Webinar Series:
"Proposals to drastically cut federal Medicaid spending are gaining ground in the Republican-led Congress. In this third in a series of webinars on Medicaid financing and services, NHeLP/LA Staff Attorney Abbi Coursolle describes how efforts to impose Medicaid per capita caps or block grants will endanger Medicaid expansion to low income adults."
For more information and to register:
http://www.healthlaw.org/issues/medicaid/defending-medicaid
HHS Issues Proposed Rules Making Access to the ACA More Restrictive
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Public Benefits and Elder Law Joint Task Force Meeting
Date:
Thu, 09/07/2017 - 10:00am - 1:00pm
Meetings will be held in the Baltimore City office of Maryland Legal Aid, unless otherwise changed.
Find the GoToMeeting lInk at http://www.mdjustice.org/PublicBenefitsTaskForceGoToMeeting. If you cannot see this link, you are not a member of the Task Force, contact the moderators to become a member.
Public Benefits and Elder Law Joint Task Force Meeting
Date:
Tue, 04/11/2017 - 10:00am - 1:00pm
Meetings will be held in the Baltimore City office of Maryland Legal Aid, unless otherwise changed.
Find the GoToMeeting lInk at http://www.mdjustice.org/PublicBenefitsTaskForceGoToMeeting. If you cannot see this link, you are not a member of the Task Force, contact the moderators to become a member.
Public Benefits Task Force Meeting
Date:
Thu, 03/02/2017 - 10:00am - 1:00pm
Meetings will be held in the Baltimore City office of Maryland Legal Aid, unless otherwise changed.
Find the GoToMeeting link at http://www.mdjustice.org/PublicBenefitsTaskForceGoToMeeting. If you cannot see this link, you are not a member of the Task Force, contact the moderators to become a member.
Sponsor:
Maryland Legal Aid
Medicaid Financial Eligibility in 2017 Pursuant to the Pickle Amendment
From Justice in Aging:
Medicaid
benefits can help increase the affordability of Medicare for some low-income
people who qualify. In most states, one avenue for qualifying for Medicaid
benefits is “Pickle” eligibility, which is available to certain individuals who
once received both SSI and Social Security benefits but now only receive Social
Security because their income exceeds SSI limits.
Older adults who are eligible through the Pickle Amendment can save hundreds
or even thousands of dollars a year in Medicare Part B premiums and copayments.
Younger adults with disabilities, particularly those who do not live in states
that have expanded Medicaid, may also find Pickle eligibility to be a
lifesaver.
Figuring out whether your client might qualify for Medicaid under Pickle rules
can seem daunting, but thanks to a
tool developed by the Tennessee Justice Center, it’s really not hard at
all. The tool
has just been updated for 2017 and makes it easy to do the math to determine
whether your client will qualify.
Be sure to start
using this 2017 version as soon as the New Year starts.
Our thanks to Gordon Bonnyman at Tennessee Justice Center for sharing this
valuable resource with advocates from other states.
Feedback
We welcome your comments and suggestions