Congress Looks To Cut Middle Class Nursing Home Benefits

Online, September 12, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The President and the Republicans in Congress have struck a deal to cut $1.5 trillion off the deficit. One of the ways they will reach that number will be to reduce or eliminate many safety net programs. One program on the chopping block is what has been dubbed "the long-term care insurance of the middle class."

"Not many people know about the protections that exist in the Medicaid laws for married couples if one spouse needs nursing home care," says eldercare lawyer, Henry Levandowski. "Nursing homes in our area are close to costing $120,000.00 a year. Not many people can pay that out of income and savings without risking going broke. Therefore, Medicaid has become the long-term care insurance of the middle class by default."

For those savvy enough to know their rights, there are legal ways to protect against a nursing home stay without going broke. Unfortunately, those rights may be going away in the rush to cut programs in Washington.

Henry Levandowski is a partner with his wife, Maria Darpino, in the eldercare law firm of Levandowski & Darpino, LLC. They have helped many seniors and their families over the years weather the financial storm that needing long term care can bring. Henry and Maria are afraid that what is going on in Washington will be devastating especially for married couples. So, they are doing something about it.

Henry and Maria have developed legal strategies to protect a family's financial well- being no matter what the politicians do. They have put together a new seminar to reveal a new kind of estate planning. They call it, "long-term care protection planning." The seminar is titled The Protect Yourself Seminar.

"The Medicaid laws are constantly changing and the changes we anticipate coming out of the deficit reduction debates may be drastic," says Henry. "We put together The Protect Yourself Seminar to tell people what they can do to prepare for a world without a long- term care safety net." The information provided in the seminar is not available in the media or on the internet.

Long-term care protection planning is a 7 part plan to shield a family's assets from the catastrophic effect of a nursing home stay. Not only does this planning have financial benefits, it will preserve the option of aging in place, that is, staying at home as long as possible before having to move to a long term care facility.

This free, one hour Protect Yourself Seminar will be held at Henry and Maria's Elder and Special Needs Resource Center located at 17 Mifflin Avenue, Havertown, PA 19083 on the following dates: September 21 at 2:00 p.m., September 22 at 6:00 p.m., September 27 at 2:00 p.m., and October 4 at 6:00 p.m.

Call 610-446-9626 or click on www.PaElderLawNow.com/protect to register.