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SPRINGFIELD WIDOW PAYS THOUSANDS TO END NURSING HOME COLLECTION CASE

Springfield, Massachusetts- A widow who did not obtain legal counsel when Medicaid coverage was needed for her husband's care, has agreed to pay thousands of dollars to settle a nursing home collections lawsuit. Read Court Dismissal.

Her decision to pay the nursing home an undisclosed amount of cash comes two months after a Hampden County Superior Court judge decided that Massachusetts law makes spouses jointly liable for services like nursing home care. Read Summary Judgment Decision.
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According to pre-trial facts that were filed just before Christmas, 2009, the elderly defendant had hired a company to assist her in handling Medicaid and Medicare issues for her husband, who is now deceased. Read Widow's Statement of Evidence. There was evidence that her capacity to cope with the situation was failing when she agreed to hire the company, and that Medicaid would have paid her husband's nursing home bill if the situation had been handled differently.

The company she hired offers to prepare Medicaid long term care applications for a flat fee, and they offer discounts to nursing homes who refer residents to their company.

But the elderly defendant never obtained the counsel of an independent elder law attorney to manage the difficult situation involving her husband's care needs. Medicaid eligibility was not obtained for her husband. According to the attorney who was called in later to defend her from the nursing home lawsuit, the elderly defendant had only $24,000 in excess assets over the Community Spouse Resource Allowance when her husband was admitted to the nursing home in 2006!

An independent elder law attorney can explain how it's possible for most married couples to obtain Medicaid if only one spouse needs the coverage..

The widow now resides in assisted living, and the nursing home settlement will collect thousands in resources that could have been used to pay her assisted living rent. Read interview with nursing home attorney in Mass Lawyers Weekly Article.

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