Life care planning assists families in preparing for the future of a person who is experiencing a medical or psychological decline due to an ongoing or chronic illness. Life care planning is a holistic, multidisciplinary process that provides legal care, advocacy and coordination services over a period of at least one year to anticipate and avoid crises and help ensure appropriate legal and care planning.

Life care planning law firms help families to discover present and future needs, and helps to find and guarantee premium care. Life care planning usually includes estate planning; asset preservation; public benefits; care coordination; family education; care advocacy; crisis intervention support; and healthcare and financial decision-making.

1.  Ensure the elder receives suitable care for his/her needs, to maintain quality of life.

2.  Determine sources, whether public or private, to assist in paying for healthcare.

3.  Help conserve family resources while assuring that the elderly relative is safe.

See you in my next blog.

Debra K. Schuster, JD, MHA

Elder Law Attorney

St. Louis, Missouri

Tara Mahadevan

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

VA Foster Homes

Medical foster homes are designed to care for veterans who do not have a family caregiver or are incapable of living on their own and need skilled nursing care. The program presently accounts for 535 veterans; since its beginning, it has placed 1,468 veterans. The program is currently activate in 73 VA medical centers in 36 states, and is expected to reach 10 more states within the next two years.

Initiating each program costs $260,000 a year, which allows for 30 veterans. The VA will fund a program for two years – after the two-year mark, the program is expected to function on its own. However, as expensive as introducing the program is, medical foster homes can function at half the cost of nursing homes.

Approval Process

The approval process for VA Foster Home caregivers is thorough. Given the age range of the veterans in the program, with an average age of 70, many veterans are vulnerable. Many veterans suffer from severe chronic illnesses, such as dementia. Typically, out of an applicant pool of 10-15 caregivers who are interested in having their home be a Medical Foster home, only one will be selected. Most applicants have a background in care giving.

Once selected, applicants receive payment from the veteran, usually $1,800 to $3,000 per month, depending on the Veteran’s care needs. Caregivers must go through safety and medical training. While many veterans are eligible to live in VA-paid nursing homes, many opt out, preferring to receive the care they need in a more home environment, rather than an institutional setting. (source)

See you in my next blog.

Debra K. Schuster, JD, MHA

Elder Law Attorney

St. Louis, Missouri

Tara Mahadevan

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

Everyone over the age of 18, who has the mental capacity to enter into contracts and sign legal documents, should create a Health Care Directive.

What are these documents? A person appoints a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, which allows the person to name who they want to make health care decisions; hiring and firing of physicians; what hospital to go to; what type of treatment they do or do not want; and to have that person be able to talk to their doctor, when the person who created the document cannot. This can happen when someone has a high fever, is in a car accident, is having surgery, or at the end of life. These issues arise most often in temporary situations.

A Living Will does not appoint someone to make health care decisions. Instead, a Living Will allows the person creating it to explain what type of end-of-life treatment they want if they are determined by two (2) physicians to have a terminal condition with no medically reasonable prospect of living more than 6 months, and are in a persistent vegetative state (a coma); cannot communicate; and artificial means of life support (usually CPR, a ventilator, dialysis, surgery) are needed to maintain the person’s life. This document “speaks” directly to the physician and hospital about the person’s wishes.

Why are these documents needed? When a person turns 18, in the eyes of the law, he or she is an adult. A parent cannot talk to their child’s doctor after the child turns 18, unless the child allows it. If the child cannot communicate this consent, the parent is out of luck. For example, when my children went to college, I required they have these documents created in the event I needed to speak with their physician or college health service. Sure enough, my son got swine flu his freshman year and the college health service would not talk to me – until the college found that my son had a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care on file.

Since you never know when these documents may be needed, now is the time to prepare them. The Missouri Bar has a free, downloadable form – go to www.mobar.org and find the “For the Public” section. This website has excellent instructions and can be printed and completed by anyone!

See you in my next blog.

Debra K. Schuster, JD, MHA

Elder Law Attorney

St. Louis, Missouri

Tara Mahadevan

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

These laws identify family members and significant others in a list – i.e., a person’s spouse, adult children, adult siblings/parents, etc. to make health care decisions of all types – not just end-of-life treatment decisions, if someone cannot speak for themselves. This bill has not yet passed in Missouri and will hopefully be debated and passed in the upcoming legislative session. I am on the committee to draft language that the Missouri legislature will hopefully find acceptable to enact this law. Many people oppose these laws because they think of them they are created as an “end-run” around end-of-life treatment decisions.  It is time for Missouri to join the 45 other states that recognize how important these laws are to the millions of people who do not yet have Health Care decision-makers appointed.

See you in my next blog.

Debra K. Schuster, JD, MHA

Elder Law Attorney

St. Louis, Missouri

Tara Mahadevan

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

The act uses the term “undue influence,” which occurs when a person who has been given authority over an elderly or disabled person’s finances, either through a Durable Power of Attorney or appointment as Conservator, emotionally manipulates or takes advantage of the vulnerability of the elderly or disabled person to use that person’s funds inappropriately.

SB 689 makes it easier for law enforcement and Prosecuting Attorneys to target those who financially exploit the elderly and disabled, regardless of whether it is a guardian or power-of-attorney; under the prior version of the law, it was difficult to charge those with this legal status.

The new law takes effect on August 28. Gov. Nixon commented, “This new language makes it clear that even someone who has power of attorney or guardianship can be prosecuted if they use their influence to take advantage of an elderly or disabled person’s finances.

This legislation also helps protect folks from physical abuse. By making it clear that caregivers who fail to seek medical attention or who fail to provide care for an individual in need will be held accountable.” (source)

See you in my next blog.

Debra K. Schuster, JD, MHA

Elder Law Attorney

St. Louis, Missouri

Tara Mahadevan

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.