32 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JANUARY 2018 32 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2017 32 LONGISLANDPRESS.CO M • SEPTEMBER 201-----------TUTU111
PRESS BUSINESS
Dean Kamen scooted Segway to success
RVC inventor’s company has hundreds of other patents
By TIMOTHY BOLGER
When Rockville Centre native
Dean Kamen invented the Segway,
the electric self-balancing scooter,
in 2001, he envisioned it would “be
to the car what the car was to the
horse and buggy.”
While the sales may not have
lived up to the extraordinary hype
leading up to the product’s launch
at Bryant Park in Manhatttan, the
two-wheeled device alternately
known as the human transporter
did become a cultural icon that
changed the world nonetheless.
“I don’t know if people will be
using Segways to get around cities
in 20 years’ time, but I do know
they won’t be using cars,” Kamen,
66, told The Economist in 2010.
“The financial, emotional, political
and environmental costs will be
prohibitive.”
With a top speed of 12.5 mph and a
fully charged battery giving it a 24-
mile range, among its most visible
users are tourists, police officers
and security guards. Actor Kevin
James famously does a Segway
dance and chases crooks with his in
the comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
It is Kamen’s best-known invention,
but it’s far from his only one. His
company has patents on more than
400 other innovations worldwide,
from a wheelchair that climbs
stairs to the insulin pump. He
also founded For Inspiration
and Recognition of Science and
Technology (FIRST), a robot
competition for high school
students to inspire students to
study science worldwide.
Although he now calls a hightech
hexagonal mansion in New
Hampshire home, the Worcester
Dean Kamen Segways are popular with tourists.
Polytechnic Institute dropout also
owns North Dumpling, a private
island about 20 miles off the coast
of Orient Point, keeping his Long
Island ties loosely intact.
Jimi Heselden, a British
businessman, bought the Segway
business from Kamen. But
Heselden died when he accidentally
drove a Segway off an 80-foot
cliff on his estate and into a river
in 2010. The tragedy led some to
erroneously believe Kamen died.
Despite Heselden’s death and
lower-than-expected sales in
America, researchers forecast that
Segway use will continue to grow
internationally as it expands to new
markets. So don’t expect it to scoot
off into the sunset anytime soon.
WHOLLY MOLI
Navigating the Medicaid Home Care System
Recently, it has become increasingly
difficult for those in need to
obtain 24-hour home care,
especially split shift care (two 12-hour
shifts). It is unclear how New York State
will be able to sustain the Medicaid
home care program with the move in
recent years to managed long term care
(MLTC), which is essentially an HMO
model (Medicaid pays the agencies the
same monthly amount per recipient
whether they provide four hours per
day or 24 hours per day) and with the
current challenges to wage and hour
laws for home care workers.
If an individual is already receiving
care and the hours are reduced, he or she
must be provided with written notice
as to the reduction and the reason for
such reduction. There are methods to
appeal this decision. The individual can
initiate an internal appeal and request a
reevaluation. However, it is important
to simultaneously request a Medicaid
fair hearing with “Aid Continuing”
within ten days of the decision. If
the Commissioner of the Department
of Health grants the request for Aid
Continuing, Medicaid must continue
to provide services to the individual at
the same level at which he or she was
previously awarded until such time as a
“Decision After Fair Hearing” is issued.
In order to receive the necessary care,
it is important to know what needs to be
demonstrated to the agency evaluating
the number of hours that will be
provided. A common misconception is
that services are based on the diagnoses
of the Medicaid recipient. In fact, hours
are awarded based on the extent to
which the Medicaid recipient requires
assistance with his or her Activities
of Daily Living (ADLs). Therefore,
during an evaluation, it is important to
educate the evaluating nurse on which
ADLs the Medicaid recipient requires
assistance with and the frequency of
such need. The ADLs that typically
result in a higher award of hours tend
to be ambulation/transfers and toileting.
It is important for a Medicaid recipient
to offer concrete evidence of his or her
needs. In addition to specifying the
activity, the frequency of the need must
be addressed, such as the recipient
requiring assistance with going to the
bathroom several times during the night.
If an individual must attend a fair
hearing, he or she should bring any
documents supporting the need for
increased care. Such documents include
doctors’ recommendations and an
Affirmation from a doctor, medical
records, evaluations performed by
disinterested parties, and a witness,
such as an aide.
Personal care services must be
authorized in amounts that are
medically necessary. While there are
specific standards for determining the
need for 24-hour care, the regulations
are not as specific for people who require
less than 24-hour care. Local Medicaid
programs as well as managed care and
MLTC plans that authorize personal care
aides are permitted to use assessment
tools that may not result in receiving the
number of hours actually needed. It is
important for those navigating the home
care system to contact a knowledgeable
elder care attorney.
Ronald A. Fatoullah, Esq. is the principal
of Ronald Fatoullah & Associates, a law
firm that concentrates in elder law, estate
planning, Medicaid planning, guardianships,
estate administration, trusts, wills, and real
estate. The law firm can be reached at 718-
261-1700, 516-466-4422, or toll free at
1-877-ELDER-LAW or 1-877-ESTATES.
Mr. Fatoullah is also a partner with Advice
Period, a wealth management firm, and he
can be reached at 424-256-7273.
By Ronald A. Fatoullah, Esq