Caregiving

PROTECTING SENIORS – UNDERSTANDING ELDER ABUSE

Published on: November 19, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

NEW YORK LAW ON ELDER ABUSE

New York, much like every other state in the country, has a system in place to deal with elder abuse. It is both preventative and remedial in nature. Many people are more familiar with analogous child abuse protection laws. Unlike child abuse protection laws, New York does not have a mandatory reporting law and does not maintain a central registry on data on elder abuse. In fact, New York is one of only four states that does not mandate reporting of elder abuse. Unique amongst the states, New York has no law at all dealing with reporting. It should be noted, however, that as of writing of the present, Assembly Bill A3743 for the 2015-2016 legislative session is pending which would create a mandatory reporting law and a central registry.

PREVALENCE OF ELDER ABUSE

FILIAL SUPPORT LAWS

Published on: November 16, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

LAWS THROUGHOUT THE STATES

More than half the states have filial support laws on their books. Most states that still have filial support laws as part of its statutory code rarely enforce them. The last time that Georgia successfully enforced its filial support law was 1936. Filial support laws are now coming back into focus, as judged by the relatively recent case of John Pittas in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania more than most states has a more regular history of enforcement of its filial support statute, as judged from the several cases from 1994 and 2003. Louisiana recently enacted a filial responsibility act on June 29, 2015. North Dakota enforced its filial support law in 2013 when Four Season’s Healthcare Center sought payment from Elden Linderkamp, although the outcome of that case placed much weight on an allegedly fraudulent transfer of the parents land. These cases are the outliers, however.

ENFORCEMENT IN NEW YORK

WHAT IS LOST AFTER DIAGNOSIS OF DEMENTIA

Published on: November 7, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

LEGAL RIGHTS

The highly charged trial of former Iowa legislature Henry V. Rayhons is now over. Five months ago, jurors voted to acquit the Defendant of third degree sexual assault. One of the voting jurors was a local reporter who wrote a revealing and no doubt personally difficult article. The article and ultimate outcome of the case should give pause to anyone who thinks that our system of justice is broken. By all accounts, the jurors all made their decision based on the evidence and took their job seriously and with the utmost integrity. The larger question that the case spawns, which can now be discussed given that some time has elapsed, is the issue of what rights do dementia patients retain? More particularly, can a dementia patient consent to intimate contact with loved ones? For example, can a husband of over 50 years, in the privacy of his wife’s room embrace her in an intimate and loving fashion? What if the grandchild gives the same loving embrace? Can the spouse sleep in the same bed without concern for legal liability? Leaving the issue of intercourse aside, sexual expression is perhaps one of the most profound and important rights.

MEDICAL AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE

LONG TERM COMMUNITY CARE REPORT CARD

Published on: November 4, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

2015 REPORT ON LONG TERM COMMUNITY CARE FACILITY SAFETY AND INTEGRITY

On April 21, 2015, the Long Term Care Community Coalition issued a 30 page comprehensive report to document and report on the state of the long term care community. It was a report card of sorts, where the report notes “significant problems in resident care, quality of life and dignity are pervasive across the country.” Indeed, the report gives a failing grade for enforcement of the robust laws that provide promises of dignity and superior care. More specifically, the report notes that long term care facilities have “inadequate care staff” and provide subpar care, lacking in dignity “because there is nothing stopping them from doing otherwise.” There are too often little or no consequences when the facility fail to live up to the standards that they are contractually bound to, even when these shortcomings result in “significant suffering.”

The Coalition wrote an additional report focused on New York for various reasons. New York’s findings can be found here. The New York report is even more detailed, at least as judged from the fact that it is 18 pages longer than the national report.

SENIOR HOUSING PITFALLS

Published on: October 26, 2015 | by Ettinger Law Firm

CONTINUING CARE RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES

There are currently 1,900 continuing care retirement communities throughout the country, with approximately one half of a million residents. As you may already know, continuing care retirement communities are communities that offer seniors or older adults – depending on the community – independent living options with various medical and social care features. There is a recent trend to offer senior housing options in association with universities, which usually give the residents cutting edge medical care. The residents also benefit from being allowed to attend college lectures and have access to the universities exercise and recreational activities.

MAJOR FINANCIAL AND LIFE DECISION

Did You Prepare for That?

Published on: January 24, 2014 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Screenwriter and director Woody Allen once said, “There are worse things in life than death.” Becoming incapacitated and unable to make medical treatment decisions for yourself may be one of those things. The case of Terry Schiavo is a perfect example of the problems that can arise when one does not plan for incapacitation. Following Mrs. Schiavo’s hospitalization and being found incapacitated, an emotional battle erupted between Mrs. Schiavo’s husband and her family over whether she would continue to receive life-sustaining treatment.

Good estate planning is all about preparing for the unthinkable. While a will or trust addresses what happens once you die, what about if you become incapacitated and unable to make your own medical decisions?

The Health Care Proxy – The Unsung Hero of Estate Planning

Bucking the Trend – County-Run Nursing Homes

Published on: December 18, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

News regarding New York nursing home care in recent months has centered on one development–the privatization of formerly public-owned facilities. In the past, most New York counties owned and managed their own facilities to provide long-term care for seniors in their community.

However, due to a range of factors, those homes became significant financial weight on county budgets. Local officials looking for ways to get out of the red increasingly decided to sell off their nursing home operations to private companies. The idea often made intuitive sense, considering the facilities often cost the county millions more each year than they brought in. New York Medicaid reimbursement amounts often fail to cover the actual cost of providing support to each senior resident.

However, the privatizations have worried many elder care advocates who wonder if the quality of care will decrease post-sale. Thus far it is hard to say with certainty if private homes automatically provide lower quality care. It remains incumbent upon each family to investigate the quality of each individual home to find the location that is the best fit for your elderly relative.

Onondaga County Officially Transfers Ownership of Nursing Home to Private Firm

Published on: December 6, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The changing face of New York nursing home care continued this weekend as another county officially got out of the elder care business. As reported by Syracuse News, the Van Duyn Home and Hospital was transferred by Onondaga County to the “Upstate Services Group” — a private company that owns at least eleven other New York elder care facilities.

This transition was in the works for quite some. The news report explains how the facility has long-been plagued by accusations of poor care on top of acting as a huge financial burden for the county itself. In fact, Van Duyn was under intense scrutiny from federal regulators for its poor caregiving track record. That is on top of more than a dozen private civil lawsuits filed by former residents and their family members against the county alleging negligence.

The financial issue combined with care quality concerns led many to suspect that the 500-bed facility would be shuttered. However, with this transition to private ownership, it appears the the facility is safe–at least for now. Interestingly, one of the main concerns with sales of public facilities to private companies is the risk of a decrease in quality for residents. However, in this case, because of Van Duyn’s poor track record in the past, there were less complaints of that nature.

New Tech Tools Changing Elder Care

Published on: November 25, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The look and feel of elder care in the United States is changing. In the distant past, most care was provided by friends and family members at their own homes. Later, larger facilities (nursing homes) were built to provide more consistent care to all seniors, especially those without options for family support. Now, however, care is shifting back to the home. This change is pushed by many factors, including the rising costs of nursing home care and the preferences of individual seniors to avoid institutionalized living.

More Options Than Ever

One interesting driver of the change are advances in technology which offer increasing support options available to seniors living at home. A Huffington Post story explored the different ways that these tools are helping improve elder care. While some of the most advanced systems are still in the works, many simple tech tools are already being pushed out to greatly improve senior services.

AARP to Hold Forum on “Modernizing Medicaid”

Published on: October 15, 2013 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Debate and discussion around the ideal setting to care for older individuals has raged for decades. The trends are somewhat cyclical.

In the distant past, virtually all aging took place at homes. “Traditional,” nuclear families were more common, and so seniors who could no longer live on their own almost always moved in with family members. Long-term care facilities were virtually non-existent.

However, seniors who did not have available family caregivers or who needed more support than caregivers could provide were left in dire straits. The growth of various senior housing locations filled the gap. These separate spaces catered exclusively to senior needs, ideally providing better, more efficient care without overburdened family support networks.