New York Elder Law Attorneys Release Report on LTC Reform

The Elder Law Section of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) has issued a long-awaited report on long-term care reform in the state. The report's centerpiece is an innovative proposal for long-term care cost sharing.

Whatever long-term care challenges other states face, they pale beside New York's. The state's Medicaid program spent $6 billion on nursing home care in 2003, more than any other state. With the New York's over-65 population projected to increase by 30 percent in the next 20 years, little relief is in sight.

In 2001, the NYSBA's Elder Law Section formed a Task Force on Long-Term Care Reform to examine a system that even then faced the real possibility of future collapse. The task force, now called the Committee on Long-Term Care Reform, has just released a 92-page report of its findings and recommendations.

The report debunks myths such as "millionaires are receiving Medicaid" and "Medicaid recipients fraudulently shelter assets," and includes chapters on community based alternatives to nursing home care and the status of New York's compliance with Olmstead.

But the report does more than bemoan rising costs and assert that Medicaid planning is not to blame for them. It proposes a "Compact" in which New York State and its chronically ill citizens would agree to share the risks of paying for long-term care. As an alternative to the current impoverishment process, Compact participants would agree to pay a set maximum amount or one-half of their assets, whichever is smaller, towards their long-term care needs. After spending the amount pledged, participants would qualify for Medicaid, with the Compact offering two options regarding the treatment of their income.

The report can be downloaded from the Elder Law Section's Web site.

The report's authors include a number of New York members of ElderLawAnswers:

Louis W. Pierro of Pierro & Associates in Albany;

Howard F. Angione of The Law Office of Howard F. Angione in Jamaica;

Stephen G. Levy with The Ettinger Law Firm in Albany;

Ellen Makofsky with Raskin & Makofsky in Garden City;

Elisabeth N. Radow and Neil Rimsky with Cuddy & Feder in Westchester; and

Brian Andrew Tully with The Law Offices of Brian Andrew Tully in Hauppauge.

In addition, ElderLawAnswers member Vincent J. Russo assisted with the report's preparation.