Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Protecting Assets and Wishes: Essential Legal Steps for Alzheimer’s Patients and Their Families
As Alzheimer’s gradually diminishes an individual’s ability to communicate, it also poses a potential threat to their estate and assets. Families who have a loved one whose cognition is in gradual decline will want to safeguard their loved one’s wishes for their estate before they become incapacitated. There are crucial legal steps that need… Read More »
Some Retirees Aren’t Allowed to Choose Between Medicare or Medicare Advantage
After the age of 65, Americans are generally allowed to choose between traditional Medicare or a private health insurer’s Medicare Advantage plan (also called Medicare Part C). However, it is becoming increasingly common for retirees with health benefits from their former employers to not be given a choice. Instead, these retirees are told that… Read More »
Four Lifestyle Changes That Can Improve Cognitive Function, Delay Alzheimer’s
A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is a devastating reality for numerous Americans. Alzheimer’s is a degenerative condition that causes cognitive decline. While recent research has made great strides in determining how Alzheimer’s transforms the brain, the prognosis for those with the disorder hasn’t significantly improved in recent years. Yet researchers continue to make strides in… Read More »
Your Girlfriend from the 1980s is Grateful for Your Million Dollars
It is no secret that a lot of people in America are living alone and while many have been in one or more serious relationships those never culminated in marriage. Meanwhile, these people accumulate assets but often don’t pay enough attention to what will become of them if the Grim Reaper comes for an… Read More »
FDA Greenlights New Drug for Early Alzheimer Patients
An advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently unanimously voted in favor of greenlighting a new drug, donanemab, as a treatment for early Alzheimer’s disease. When asked, “Does the available data show that donanemab is effective for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in the population enrolled in the clinical trials… Read More »
What is a Life Estate and How Does it Work?
Those who own a home that they love may dream of giving that home to someone in their family to ensure that the estate stays within the family. But the process of ensuring that the home stays in the family isn’t always simple. An individual who wants to ensure that a piece of real… Read More »
Virginia Court Holds That Life Estate Maintained by Part-Time Use
In an unpublished opinion, the Court of Appeals of Virginia affirmed a lower court ruling that two women were not considered the remainder beneficiaries of a life estate created by their aunt. The appellate court, in making this ruling, found that a personal residence does not require sole or exclusive use. Intermittent use was… Read More »
Medicaid for Millions in America Hinges on Deloitte-Run Systems Plagued by Errors
Deloitte, a global consultancy that reported revenue last year of $65 billion, pulls in billions of dollars from states and the federal government for supplying technology it says will modernize Medicaid. The company promotes itself as the industry leader in building sophisticated and efficient systems for states that, among other things, screen who is eligible for Medicaid…. Read More »
Appeals Court Rules That Agent Acted in Best Interests of Deceased Client
When you have the power of attorney over another individual, it is important to remember that you have a fiduciary duty to act in that person’s best interests. Failure to do so can come with civil and criminal penalties. However, it’s not always obvious that an agent has acted in the best interests of… Read More »
Why Dementia Village Projects Like the Dutch Hogeweyk Remain Rare in the U.S.
By Sloane Airey, Guest Contributor to Senior Housing News The idea of creating memory care villages gets a lot of ink – but not too many bricks. Ever since the opening of the memory care village “Hogeweyk” in Weesp, Netherlands, there has been no shortage of news coverage about how operators in the U.S…. Read More »