Alzheimer’s and Being Thankful

I was reminded that we all have a lot to be thankful for. Great family and friends are at the top of the list. You don’t really know what you’ve got or how good you have it until you come close to losing something dear to you. This is a picture of my 8 month [...]

Alzheimer’s and Adult Day Care

A major component of your loved one’s ability to remain at home as long as possible is interaction with others. Mind stimulating activities and frequent contact with other people facing similar circumstances is key. Adult day care is a great way to make sure your loved one receives this level of interaction, and can give [...]

New Nursing Home Rating System and TV Interview

Medicare has introduced a new 5 star rating system for nursing homes based on three main categories: nursing home staff, quality measures and health inspections. 
You can see me being interviewed about the topic for NBC news here in Austin tonight. To learn more, watch the clip here: http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/Nursing_homes_under_fire_after_ratings 
Just push play on the video on the left [...]

Alzheimer’s and Geriatric Care Managers

A Geriatric Care Manager can be a very useful professional that your family can hire to help with long-term care arrangements. So what is a Geriatric Care Manager (GCM)? 
These are licensed or certified professionals, often with a master’s degree in gerontology, nursing, counseling or social work. They can help your family develop a care plan [...]

Alzheimer’s, Levels of Care

You may be aware, but there are levels of care or a “continuum of care” you will be faced with as your loved one’s Alzheimer’s progresses.  When your family member is still able to substantially care for themselves, they may live first in an indpendent living facility.  Many times health services are provided and some [...]

Alzheimer’s Disease, Power of Attorney

I often tell my clients that at the first sign of any form of dementia (and hopefully much sooner), they must put in place a properly drafted power of attorney. It is critical that a trusted family member or friend is given the authority to help make decisions on behalf of the person with Alzheimer’s. [...]

Alzheimer’s Disease, VA Aid and Attendance Example

In general, you can use a variety of methods to have assets under an acceptable level for VA qualification. Use of a trust is just one method commonly used. For VA qualification you have to look at two things: 1) Income-your income must be under what they call the Maximum Annual Pension Rate. So if [...]

Alzheimer’s Facts

We’ve talked before about countable vs. non-countable assets, but one thing that must be considered as well is that Medicaid also looks at transfers of property, money etc that have occurred. In general, if your loved one with Alzheimer’s needs to apply for Medicaid, they will look back at all transfers that took place [...]

How Veteran’s Benefits Can Help Offset The High Cost of Alzheimer’s Disease

Here is the video I promised about Alzheimer’s and VA Benefits. Watch to find out how a VA benefit can really help pay for keeping your loved one with Alzheimer’s at home longer with at-home health care or at an assisted living facility.

For more information and a FREE ebook on [...]

Alzheimer’s and VA Benefits-Watch for New Video

Watch for a new video of me discussing the three levels of benefits available to help pay for Alzheimer’s under the VA.