Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Issues Updated "Fly Rights" Consumer Guide

Excerpt from Disability.gov: (click for entire article)

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has released an updated version of Fly Rights: A Consumer Guide to Air Travel, its popular guide to air travelers’ rights. Fly Rights provides air travelers with helpful advice on how to get the best airfare, what to expect when a flight is delayed or canceled and how to avoid travel scams. The guide provides easy-to-read information on federal airline regulations in a number of areas, including accommodating air travelers with disabilities and rules for bumping and baggage compensation. For more information read New Horizons - Information for the Air Traveler with a Disability. New Horizons can also be opened as a Word document.

University hits 'Gone With the Wind' dress donation target

Patti's Comments:  AWESOME!! I cannot wait to see these dresses! 

Excerpt from The Oakland Press: (click for entire article)

Legions of “Gone With the Wind” fans have together donated tens of thousands of dollars to prove they, frankly, do give a you-know-what.

The University of Texas Harry Ransom Center says it has met its $30,000 fundraising goal to pay for restoring five of Scarlett O’Hara’s gowns from the multiple Oscar-winning Civil War drama.

Ransom Center officials announced Tuesday that contributions came from more than 600 people in 44 states and 13 countries.

The Jewelry Prescription

Patti's Comments:  Great article with practical advice. I am going to suggest my kids use the In Case of Emergency suggestion in their phones.

Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal: (click for entire article)

It's a simple step, but one many doctors forget to remind patients to take: Wear a medical-alert bracelet.

A growing number of American adults and children face complex medical conditions like heart disease and diabetes. They may have drug or food allergies, suffer from disorders like autism, or take medications like the blood thinner coumadin that medical staff should know about in an emergency.

New bracelets and other medical-identification systems can fill in first responders on practically a patient's complete health history. They're a far cry from the simple identification bracelets of the past, which with a few engraved words informed medics that a person was, perhaps, allergic to penicillin. They can steer first responders to a secure website or toll-free phone number, or initiate a text message, to get the medical and prescription history of a patient who may be unconscious or unable to talk about their condition.

Of course, wearing the traditional clunky metal medical-alert bracelets might be a turnoff to some, and too visible a reminder of a disease or condition. That's one reason a number of jewelry companies make bracelets, necklaces and watches that look like real bling—Tiffany & Co. has a gold bracelet for $2,250, for instance—and some pendants can easily be hidden under clothes.

Chris Chelios retires from hockey, takes job with Red Wings

Patti's Comments:  Congratulations, Chris.  We are happy to have you in Michigan working for the Red Wings, and your sons playing for MSU!

Excerpt from Freep.com: (click for entire article)

With his family seated in front of him, former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios announced his retirement from the NHL today at Joe Louis Arena.

Chelios, 48, tried to thank as many people as possible in the speech he prepared, but he strayed from it several times. He had to pause a few times while speaking about his wife and children.

“The only tough part was the family part,” Chelios said afterward. “Seeing the kids, I thought, would loosen me up a bit.

“It’s an emotional moment. The hockey part was easy, mostly because I’m going to be remaining with the Red Wings. Had it been a farewell speech -- I think it was a little tougher when I said good-bye two years ago, because I realized I wasn’t going to be a Red Wing.”

Social Media Shapes Markets, the Military and Life

Excerpt from Science and Technology: (click for entire article)

The Department of Defense and all of its components maintain thousands of Facebook pages according to the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs' registry maintained on www.Defense.gov.

So to think that the Department of Defense is timid about the use of social media -- think again.

Facebook boasts more than 500 million users and may reach 700 million within the next year. Like Google, Facebook can be thought of as one of the world's largest countries, according to a July 22, 2010, social media article in the Economist magazine entitled "The Future Is Another Country."

Estate Planning Myths Explained

Excerpt from Business West Online: (click for entire article)

Certain ideas with respect to estate planning are widely accepted, yet unfortunately, inaccurate. This article will reveal and explain the most commonly stated estate planning myths.

Myth No. 1: ‘If I have a valid will, my estate does not have to go through probate.’

Many people believe that having a will means that their estate will not have to be probated when they pass away. A will is a document that, in part, gives instructions as to the distribution of the assets in the decedent’s probate estate. The assets in the probate estate are those assets that are held in the decedent’s name alone that do not have a designated beneficiary. Thus, whether or not probate is needed is not based upon whether or not the decedent had a will; rather, it is based upon how the assets are owned by the decedent.

If the decedent left probate assets, then in order for their will to ‘speak,’ a probate estate must be opened. If all the assets held in the decedent’s name are jointly owned with a right of survivorship or have named beneficiaries, then there is no need for probate.

Maryland Joins States Allowing Those 65+ to Transfer to Pooled Trusts

Excerpt from Academy of Special Needs Planners: (click for entire article)

For the past two years there have been questions as to whether Medicaid transfer-of-assets penalties would apply to transfers to pooled trusts by individuals age 65 and older. A Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) memo  dated April 14, 2008, from Gale Arden (Baltimore) to Jay Gavens (Atlanta Region IV) stated that "only trusts established for a disabled individual age 64 or younger are exempt from application of the transfer of assets penalty provisions ( see section 1917(c)(2)(B)(iv) of the Act.)" This was followed in May 2008 by a Boston Regional Office bulletin stating that transfers to pooled trusts are subject to transfer penalties.

Not all states are imposing a penalty; some allow transfers to pooled trusts by people of all ages. The latest such state is Maryland, which stated in a letter from the state Attorney General's office to Maryland attorney Jason Frank that after researching this "complicated and nuanced" area of law, it had concluded that "[a]s a matter of policy, there is no age limitation imposed by existing federal or state law on who may transfer assets into a sub-account of a pooled trust. Accordingly, a disabled beneficiary 65 years of age and older may transfer assets into an approved pooled trust sub-account without penalty".

Presentation Looks at the Intersection of Military Benefits and Special Needs Planning

Excerpt from Academy of Special Needs Planners: (click for entire article)

Special needs planning with military and veterans benefits is a growing field and one that many special needs planners are adding to their practices. However, the military and veterans benefits systems are quite intricate and rely on rules that may be counter-intuitive to some experienced special needs planners. Michigan ASNP member Sanford Mall  provided an informative overview of special needs planning with military and veterans benefits at this year's 4th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Special Needs Planners. Mall's presentation should be a first stop for any attorney thinking about adding veterans planning to his or her repertoire.

Mall began by explaining that there are really two separate systems of military-related benefits, one run by the Department of Defense and the other run by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Active duty service members and their families will receive health care services, as well as social services and help with education, through programs offered by the Department of Defense. Mall pointed out that these programs are usually very comprehensive and will assist an active duty member of the military who has a dependent child with special needs. However, in order to qualify as a dependent child, the child with special needs must have become "permanently incapable of self-support" prior to age 18, a significant difference from the Social Security Administration's 22-year-old cut-off. (The materials accompanying Mall's presentation contain much more specific information about Department of Defense Benefits. You can read the materials here.)

While children of active duty service members may qualify for a host of programs, the VA offers benefits only to children of veterans who have passed away, and those benefits are not nearly as comprehensive as the ones offered by the Department of Defense. Mall explained that there are two main financial benefits that may be available to children of deceased service members -- a Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefit for surviving dependents of service members who died as a result of a service-connected injury (or who died after being totally and permanently disabled), and a Death Pension benefit that is not based on death in service or a service-connected disability.

The DIC benefit is not needs-based and is available to the family of any service member who meets the requirements. If the family includes a child with special needs, it provides either a boost to a surviving spouse's DIC benefit, or, if there is no surviving spouse, then a child with special needs may receive around $774 a month. The Death Pension is needs-based and is available only to people who meet income and asset requirements. The Death Pension provides approximately $2,000 a year to a child of a deceased service member, and that benefit is available only if there is no surviving spouse. Mall summed up the available options by posing a question. "What happens if a veteran dies . . . and the death was not service connected or he or she was not permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected injury or illness or if there was no wartime service record? . . .Then, sorry, no survivor benefits as it relates to doing something with respect to special needs benefits."

As Memories Slip Away, A Grandfather Reflects

Excerpt from NPR: (click for entire article)

Bob Patterson worked as an aerospace engineer for three decades. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2008. His wife, Karen, has been by his side all along. Recently, Bob told her how living with the disease has affected him.

"I feel like I'm the same person, but I know I'm kind of a big load to deal with," Bob says with a laugh.

"You know how we talk sometimes about who we really are — what is our essence?" Karen says. "Memories are not who you are."

"Well, I think one thing that I experience with Alzheimer's is, I live in the moment — because I can't remember what happened yesterday. I can't remember what happened 10 minutes ago. But I'm much more present, I think."

Special needs adults’ parents sue governor, Birmingham school district

Excerpt from The Oakland Press: (click for entire article)

Parents of special needs adults are suing the Birmingham school district and various state officials, including Gov. Jennifer Granholm, over what they say is an attempt to wrongly evict a program for their children from a school building.

A court hearing on the matter has been scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 1.

“We’re seeking mainly the right to stay where we are, in peace,” said Barry Powers, an attorney representing the parents and New Gateways, Inc.