John J. Rizzo III has joined the firm of Swogger, Bruce & Millar Law Firm, P.C.

Swogger, Bruce & Millar, Law Firm, P.C.

I have brought my Traverse City Medicaid planning practice to the firm of Swogger, Bruce & Millar Law Firm, P.C. I am excited for this opportunity to add first class office support to my Elder Law experience and skills. The practice has five other great lawyers and an impressive support staff.

Contact me at my new office if you have any questions about protecting your assets or receiving Medicaid or Veterans benefits.

John J. Rizzo III

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At Veterans Hospital in Oregon, a Push for Better Ratings Puts Patients at Risk, Doctors Say

ROSEBURG, Ore. — An 81-year-old veteran hobbled into the emergency room at the rural Veterans Affairs hospital here in December, malnourished and dehydrated, his skin flecked with ulcers and his ribs broken from a fall at home. A doctor examining the veteran — a 20-year Air Force mechanic named Walter Savage who had been living alone — decided he was in no shape to care for himself and should be admitted to the hospital. A second doctor running the inpatient ward agreed. But the hospital administration said no. Though there were plenty of empty beds, records show that a nurse in charge of enforcing administration restrictions said Mr. Savage was not sick enough to qualify for admission to the hospital. He waited nine hours in the emergency room until, finally, he was sent home. “The doctors were mad; the nurses were mad,” said Mr. Savage’s son-in-law, Mark Ridimann. “And my dad, he was mad, too. He kept saying, ‘I’ve laid my life on the line, two years in Vietnam, and this is ...

If You Haven’t Been Regularly Reviewing Your Estate Plan, Start When You Hit 60

How frequently you should review your estate plan depends on how old you are and whether there has been a significant change in your circumstances. If you are over age 60 and you haven't updated your estate plan in many decades, it's almost certain that you need to update your documents. After that, you should review your plan every five years or so. But if you are younger, you don't need to do so nearly as often. Age Here are a few age ranges and what they mean in terms of estate planning: 18-30 Everyone needs a durable power of attorney, health care proxy and HIPAA release so that they have people they choose to step in and make decisions for them in the event of incapacity. 30-40 Once you begin accumulating assets, get married, and have children, it's important to create an estate plan to care for your loved ones in the event of your death. It also can't hurt to update your durable power of attorney, health care proxy and HIPAA release, since the peopl...

Medicaid's Five-Year Look-Back Period and Penalties for Gifting

Many of my elder law clients in northern Michigan have questions about the Medicaid look-back period and penalties for gifting. The first thing to know is that Medicaid planning to protect assets can be done at any time, even during the look-back period, or after a client is in a nursing home. With that initial piece of information in hand, we can proceed to an explanation of the Medicaid system for penalizing gifts. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services processes applications for Medicaid benefits. DHHS policy directs an eligibility specialist to investigate all gifts, or transfers for less than fair market value, that an applicant or his spouse made within five years of the applicant being in a nursing home and otherwise being eligible for Medicaid. Let's unpack that a little bit. First, there are two thresholds to cross before a gift penalty begins to run. The applicant must be in long-term care and eligible for Medicaid based on...

Traverse City Medicaid Attorney

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