Caregiver Tip of the Month
Low-income Seniors MUST file a tax return
before October 15th
On June 19th, the IRS that about 5.2 million retirees and disabled veterans who qualify for the economic stimulus rebate have still not filed to claim it. The ONLY way for low-income seniors to receive a tax rebate ($300 for individuals or $600 for couples) is to FILE a tax return before October 15th. That includes Social Security recipients and disabled veterans who don't normally need to file returns.
The only requirement is that the senior or veteran must have earned at least $3,000 in qualifying income during 2007 (an average of only $250 a month). That includes Social Security benefits, tier 1 railroad retirement benefits, VA disability and death benefits, and earned income such as wages, salaries, tips and self-employment.
The IRS has prepared a simplified version of Form 1040A along with special instructions, including a sample form, for most low-income seniors and disabled veterans to use. Most of the sample has been overprinted in grey to indicate the information that doesn't need to be filled in. Only the few remaining white areas must be filled in. There are also 3 special instructions in red.
You can download Form 1040A, the sample form and instructions from the IRS Web site simply by clicking on the blue underlined link. (Note: This is a PDF form. To view it, you must have the free Adobe Reader program installed on your computer. For more information about it, click on Adobe Reader.) On the other hand, if you help an elderly parent or a disabled veteran with their taxes, and you don't want to use the online version, you can use a paper version of 1040A from your local IRS office.
The form 1040A must be filed before October 15, 2008
to receive their economic stimulus payment
Important Notes:
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If your parent normally wouldn't need to file a tax return this year, they will NOT have to pay any taxes if the only reason they do file a tax return is to qualify for their tax rebate.
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Their tax rebate will NOT be taxed when they file their 2008 federal tax return in 2009, regardless of whether they do file a return or are not required to do so at that time.
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Their tax rebate will NOT affect their eligibility for any federal benefits, and it will NOT reduce any benefits they are already receiving.
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They do NOT need to hire an account, a CPA, H&R Block or any other tax preparer to file the simplified 1040A. After all, paying a fee of $50 to $100 (perhaps more) will cost your parent a sizable chunk of their rebate. Instead, if you or your parent wants help ...
AARP's Tax-Aide is the nation's largest, free, volunteer run tax counseling and preparation service. For more information, including their locator service, "Find a Tax-Aide Site Near You," visit AARP's Tax-Aide website. Or, call AARP's Tax-Aide toll-free at 1-888-227-7669.
The IRS's free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program has locations in many shopping malls, schools, libraries and other community and neighborhood centers. For more information, call toll-free at 1-800-829-1040.
Find Eldercare for Your Loved Ones
We have partnered with ElderCarelink to help you find the right local eldercare services for your loved one. ElderCarelink has established a nationwide network of carefully screened eldercare providers and facilities. We are pleased to bring this referral service to you free of charge.
Within minutes of completing a brief Needs Survey, you will receive a detailed email report that list eldercare providers in your area who match your specific requirements. Last year alone, over 100,000 families utilized this service in their search for high-quality senior care.
We look forward to our family helping yours. Take a minute now to complete the Needs Survey and find the community that meets your family's needs. Let us assist you.
Our visitors ask ...
Q. I am the son-in-law, doing some research for my wife and her two sisters regarding the care needs of their mother. While I have found a wealth of information online about elder care, I have not found the answer to the toughest question we have.
Mom is in a nursing home on a rehab stay following hospitalization. She has a variety of different health issues that we are reasonably certain will lead us to the reality that she cannot return home and not even to one of the daughter's homes because she will need access to care 24 x 7. None of her daughters can afford to quit their job to be a full-time caregiver to Mom.
We need guidance about finding the money for her long-term care. Mom's only income is Social Security. She does not own a home, but she does own a 13 year old car.
Where would we go to apply for assistance to fund this type of facility for mom?
A. There are a variety of resources that could help you. We describe them in our article 12 tips to help you find money (and free resources) for care at home (and an assisted living facility or a nursing home).
Daily Living Solutions
— products for seniors and the elderly —
As we grow older, it often becomes difficult to use many everyday products because of arthritis, disability or other conditions. If you or a loved one needs a little help – or a lot – here are practical and affordable solutions that make life a little easier – solutions that help people continue living independently in their own home. To help you find what you need, everything is sorted into convenient categories in our Solutions for Seniors section.
You will also find, usually at a substantial discount, hundreds of medical equipment items, home health care products for the elderly, disability assistive devices, and more.
Whether you are looking for yourself or a loved one, Solutions for Seniors offers a wide variety of products, supplies and accessories – raised toilet seats, safety rails, incontinence supplies, large-handle eating utensils, pain relief, diabetic supplies, pill splitters and crushers, big-button hearing-amplified telephones, canes, walkers, rollators, wheelchairs – and much more.
Caregiving – Finding the money for care at home
A variety of resources can help pay for care at home. We discuss these resources in some detail in our article 12 tips to help you find money (and free resources) for care at home.
Caregiver Reminder
(very important topic – first published in our June 2004 issue)
What you need to know when your loved one
is a Medicare hospital patient
If you are looking for assisted living, home health care, skilled nursing or a nursing home, it's usually because of a medical crisis involving a loved one. You're probably in a time crunch – decisions have to be made quickly. The hospital may have said that your loved one will be discharged tomorrow. They've given you a list of rehab facilities, and it's up to you to pick one. But, how do you know which one is best? Are some better than others?
If you're in this situation – take a deep breath – relax a little – and read the next paragraph. You might make a better decision as a result.
Medicare has special rules to keep patients from being discharged from the hospital too soon. In spite of what the hospital may have said, your loved one cannot be discharged until 3 days after the hospital gives you a form called a Notice of Noncoverage. If they have not given you the Notice, insist that they do. (You won't get into trouble by insisting, and neither will your loved one.) This will give you additional time to find the rehab facility that's best for your loved one.
Hospitals discharge their Medicare patients quicker and sicker that ever before. In 1968, patients age 65 and older stayed in the hospital an average of 14.2 days. By 1982, that was down to 10.1 days. Now it only 6.4 days.
Why? Medicare is under constant pressure from Congress to cut expenses. Now, Medicare benefits pay a hospital the same fixed fee for each patient with a particular medical condition – even if one patient's condition is more severe than another's. If a patient stays too long, the hospital has to pay the extra costs out of its own pocket. But, the shorter a patient stays, the more money the hospital gets to keep.
How bad has the situation become? According to The Wall Street Journal, "Nearly one in five people admitted to hospitals with broken hips are discharged before all of their vital signs are stable ... . Those patients are far more likely to die or be readmitted to the hospital within two months."
To protect you, Medicare guarantees you certain rights if you think you are being asked to leave the hospital too soon. Unfortunately, these rights are given to you along with all the other papers a hospital makes you sign when you are admitted. So, they are usually lost in the shuffle, with most people never realizing how important they are. Hospitals sometimes take advantage of that fact. ...
... to read our complete article, click on Hospitals
Our visitors ask ...
Q. I'm looking for info for my 78 year old brother. He is a total disabled vet and needs a special chair to get him into a bath tub so he can shower. Also any other free help he would be entitled to.
A. Your brother may be eligible for the Veterans Administration's Aid & Attendance Special Pension. This often overlooked VA benefit can pay wartime veterans up to an additional $1,554 per month for in-home care, assisted living and nursing home care. For more information, please take a look at our article VA Aid & Attendance Special Pension.
Recommended Reading and Videos
Many excellent books and videos can help guide you through the caregiving process. For our recommendations, including a brief description of each one, click here.
For more helpful information from our website, click here. To see previous issues of this newsletter, click on Archives.
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Senior Solutions of America, Inc.
6292 Aventura Drive
Sarasota, FL 34241
Your comments or suggestions for future issues are always welcome; email them to us at editor@aging-parents-and-elder-care.com
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