Agenda

Registration:                        8:00 – 8:30 am

Morning Session:                8:30 – 11:45 am

Lunch (On your own):         11:45 am – 12:45 pm

Afternoon Session:             12:45 – 4:40 pm

Medicare: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 
T. Berthelot

    Medicare basics
   Medicare coverage
   Medicare Advantage
   Hot topics

Important Developments in Health Care,  
Long Term Care, and Payment Schemes
G Bickford

   Deficit Reduction Act regulations
   Annuities: Update
   Application and submission rules

Medicaid: Long-Term Care Planning, 
Estate Planning and Asset Transfers
G. Bickford

   History of Connecticut Medicaid program
   Eligibility criteria
   Covered services
   Spousal impoverishment rules
   Transfer of asset rules
   Penalties and disqualification periods,
      transferee liability, exceptions

Financial Planning for the Elderly and Disabled 
G. Bickford

   Asset protection: estate planning considerations
   Exempt or excluded assets
   Using trucks and advanced planning techniques
   New legislative changes and potential problems

New and Expanded Restrictions on Medicaid Planning 
G. Bickford

   Viability of asset transfers
   Use of trusts
   Use of annuities
   Viability of Medicaid planning

Looking Ahead: What’s Visible on the Horizon? 
G. Bickford

   Recovery?
   Third party liability
   Home care issues
   Retroactive eligibility for home care

Credits

Accountants
     8.0 CPE Hours

Attorneys
     6.5 Connecticut CLE Hours
     6.66 Maine CLE Hours
     6.5 New Hampshire CLE Hours
     8.0 New Jersey CLE Hours
     8.0 New York CLE Hours
     8.0 Rhode Island CLE Hours
     6.5 Vermont CLE Hours

Certified Financial Planners
     8.0 Continuing Ed. Hours

Continuing Education Credit Information

 

This course is open to the public and offers accountants 8.0 intermediate-level CPE hours in the area of taxes. HalfMoon Education Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.NASBARegistry.org. Complaints can also be directed to Doug Chapman at doug@halfmoonseminars.org. Sponsor No. 103015. Accountants attended this course should have a basic knowledge of health care planning, and no advance preparation is recommended.

This course is designed to qualify for 6.5 CLE hours for Connecticut and New Hampshire attorneys. Educators and courses are not subject to preapproval in Connecticut and New Hampshire. This course is approved for 6.66 hours for Maine attorneys and 8.0 Rhode Island CLE hours for attorneys.

HalfMoon Education is certified by the New York State CLE Board as an Accredited Provider of CLE programs*. This traditional format course offers 8.0 Areas of Professional Practice CLE hours, which are appropriate for new and experienced attorneys.

Halfmoon Education Inc. is a New Jersey CLE Service Provider (No. 164), and this course offers 8.0 CLE hours to New Jersey attorneys.

HalfMoon Education Inc. is an approved Vermont CLE provider for attorneys. This course offers 6.5 CLE hours.

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. has granted 8.0 hours of continuing education credit.

Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the seminar for most individuals who complete the entire event. Attendance certificates not available at the seminar will be mailed to participants within fifteen business days.

*HalfMoon Education will provide financial hardship assistance to New York attorneys who wish to attend this event. Contact Doug Chapman at doug@halfmoonseminars.org for details.

Speakers

Terry Berthelot

University of Connecticut, Storrs-Mansfield, CT

Ms. Berthelot is an assistant professor in residence of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Connecticut. She is also the director of the Aging Research Interest Group. Her research and advocacy is primarily about access to healthcare for people who are over 65 and for people with disabilities. She earned her Masters degree in social work from Syracuse University, after which she designed, implemented, and then coordinated a Joint Commission accredited hospice program in the Mississippi delta. Finding herself fascinated by the legal and ethical questions surrounding death and dying, Ms. Berthelot pursued her law degree at the University of Mississippi. After graduating, cum laude, Ms. Berthelot joined the Center for Medicare Advocacy, a national not-for-profit law firm. As a senior attorney, Ms. Berthelot oversaw the Center’s advocacy efforts. She also provided legal advice and representation to Medicare beneficiaries unfairly denied Medicare coverage or access to healthcare, wrote articles for national publications, produced educational materials, engaged in educational outreach activities with a particular focus on the Medicare hospice benefit, was a contributing author to the Medicare Handbook, and served as co-counsel for federal class action lawsuits challenging improper Medicare policies. Also while with the Center, Ms. Berthelot was the lead Medicare trainer for Connecticut’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program and for Connecticut’s Medicare Senior Patrol. Ms. Berthelot is a former chair of the steering committee for the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys’ Health Care Section and she is the former Connecticut liaison for National Healthcare Decisions Day. She is currently a member of the Mansfield Town Council.

George B. Bickford

Law Offices of George B. Bickford, East Granby, CT

Mr. Bickford is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Connecticut School of Law. From 1974 through 1981 he was employed by Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. During his last three years there he was director of the Senior Citizens Law Project covering North Central Connecticut. From January 1982 through October 1992 Mr. Bickford was a partner in the firm of Weed & Bickford (formerly Weed, Kerrigan & Bickford), engaged in the general practice of law. On November 1, 1992 he opened the Law Offices of George B. Bickford as a sole practitioner in East Granby, Connecticut and, as of July 1, 2009, the firm is known as the Law Offices of George B. Bickford, LLC. The office consists of two attorneys and a highly trained paralegal staff concentrating in elder law issues. For many years Mr. Bickford has been a guest speaker before bar, medical, social service and public groups on the topics of Social Security, Medicaid and estate planning for the elderly with long-term medical needs, the area in which he currently limits his practice. Mr. Bickford was a member of the Board of Directors of the Alzheimers Association Connecticut Chapter for many years, and he continues to provide them counsel and assistance. He is also a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Executive Committee of the Elder Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association.

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