There are many reasons why elderly persons wind up in nursing homes, including voluntary admittance to obtain assistance with rehabilitation after a hospital stay or problematic behaviors associated with various mental conditions such as dementia. In order to afford nursing home costs, many of these adults rely on Medicaid and Medicare. A nursing home may choose to discharge a person for various reasons, including their coverage is running out or they feel the patient is ready for release. However, if a resident is being discharged, the discharge can be challenged.
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Judge Decides Not to Dismiss Case Against Nursing Home
Eladia Ciprian, an 80-year-old patient at St. Barnabas Rehabilitation and Continuing Care Center, will not have her case dismissed for the center’s failure to correctly diagnose and treat a hematoma in her right bicep. A Bronx County Supreme Court judge decided not to dismiss the case after the center claimed she made no proof of the nursing home’s neglect or deprivation of her rights.
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Changes to the ABLE Act
The federal government passed the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act in December 2014. The ABLE Act allows the family of a disabled person to create a federal income-tax-free account to be used for the medical expenses of the disabled individual. This law was created under the same provisions of the tax code as 529 plans for college savings. According to Autism Speaks, the National Disability Institute estimates that there are 58 million individuals in the United States who have a qualified disability.
Will the State Enforce Mandatory Arbitration Clauses in New York Nursing Homes?
The use of arbitration clauses by companies in all aspects of daily living has spread immensely across the country. The United States Supreme Court has recently held that the use of arbitration clauses is fully enforceable, and nearly impossible to overturn. With that being said, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has limited the use of these clauses by implementing a new rule that restricts any nursing home receiving federal funding from requiring residents to resolve disputes in arbitration rather than in court. While the rule does not forbid arbitration completely, it does restrict the use of pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements. The rule will take effect over all nursing home admissions agreements signed after November 28, 2016.
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Attorney General Files Suit After Investigation into Tenant Harassment
In partnership with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Tenant Protection Unit, a subpoena was issued in 2014 to investigate Marolda Properties and different landlord companies concerning allegations of tenant harassment and business practices.
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What is Medicaid Fraud?
There are several types of Medicaid fraud, such as those who receive Medicaid fraudulently. Medicaid recipient fraud may include an applicant falsifying information on the application and certification failure to disclose information about income and assets owned, and the failure to disclose income earned by a spouse or other household member. Other activities that can be deemed as fraud are loaning another person their Medicaid identification card, changing or creating a falsified order or prescription, using more than one Medicaid identification card, deliberately receiving excess, duplicative or conflicting medical service and/or supplies, and selling Medicaid-provided supplies to others.
SCOTUS Declines Review of Debt Collection Case
On June 27, the Supreme Court declined to review a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, allowing the decision in the class-action lawsuit against the debt collection company Encore Capital Group Inc., Midland Funding and Midland Credit Management to stand.
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Antibiotic Usage in Nursing Homes Linked to Serious Health Problems
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), up to 70% of nursing home residents are prescribed antibiotics during the course of any given year, ranging in cost between $38 million to $137 million per year. Recently, the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) released the results of a study that linked the high usage of antibiotics in nursing homes to many health problems such as gastroenteritis, clostridium difficile, and resistance to superbugs, drug-resistant germs.
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New York State Assembly Passes Paid Family Leave Act
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law which allows eligible employees who work at businesses with 50 or more employees, and select employees who work at governmental organizations or certain schools with less than 50 employees, to take 12 unpaid weeks from work for specific family issues, such as when a new baby is born or when a family member is ill. However, due to gaps in the federal program, only about 20 percent of new mothers are eligible under FMLA. The New York State Assembly has expanded the parameters of FMLA by passing the Paid Family Leave Act on March 17, 2015, which mandates pay for employees taking leave. The bill is pending in the State Senate.
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CFPB Report Finds Many Borrowers Are Unable to Pay Back Auto Title Loans
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently released a study which showed that the vast majority of borrowers who take out a single-payment automobile title loan cannot afford to make the payments and need to take out additional loans to pay it off.
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