26 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JULY 2018
HELPING SURVIVORS:
CARLY ROSE FOUNDATION
By MIA DIMEO
After twice beating juvenile cancer, Carly Rose
Nieves is channeling that fighting spirit to support
families that are also facing life-threatening
illnesses.
Since the Middle Village native and her family
founded the eponymous Carly Rose Foundation
in 2016, the charity has paid $15,000 worth of
medical bills for families in need. That’s in addition
to related efforts, such as partnering with
Carly’s high school, Christ the King High School,
to host blood drives.
“It opened my eyes to everything we take for
granted in our lives and has helped me look at
things from a different perspective than most
teens/young adults would normally view things,”
she says of her overcoming cancer.
She is now one of 375,000 adult survivors of
children’s cancer in the United States.
Carly was 7 years old when she was first diagnosed
with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2003.
She beat the disease through chemotherapy and
blood transfusions but relapsed at age 12. She beat
cancer a second time and owes her victory to strangers
who donated blood and platelets.
After graduating LaGuardia Community College
with honors, Carly now works as a substitute
teacher and teaching assistant at her old high
school while also running events for CRF and
telling her inspirational story.
This month, CRF will host their annual Christmas in
July party to raise money for the charity and provide
a fun afternoon for the children being treated by the
Cohen Children’s Medical Center’s Hematology/Oncology
unit. There will be food, face painting, characters,
music, and more. Santa is also promised to make an
appearance and give out gifts.
“It’s a nice, happy occasion to help them have a
nice day out,” says Lisa Horner, Nieves’ mother and
founder of CRF. “We try to make life a little easier
for families.”
Visit “How to Help” section of carlyrose.org for an
Amazon Wishlist of toys that Santa will hand out
and other items requested by child cancer survivors.
Christmas in July will take place from 12 p.m.
to 4 p.m. July 29 at Plattduetsche Park in Franklin
Square. For more information, contact Lisa Horner
at mom@carlyrose.com or call 917-620-8716.
Carly Rose Nieves and her family are hosting
a Christmas in July fundraiser benefitting
children with cancer on Long Island.
We try to make life a little
easier.
Applying for Home Care in New York
By Ronald A. Fatoullah, Esq.
Nationally, the number of adult children, (mainly Baby
Boomers) that care for their aged parents continues to grow
dramatically. As early as 2009, AARP reported that more
than 65 million people, 29% of the U.S. population, were
providing care for a chronically ill, disabled, or aged family
member or friend during any given year and spent an
average of 20 hours per week providing care for their loved
one (“Caregiving in the United States”, National Alliance for
Caregiving in collaboration with AARP; November 2009).
“Family caregivers help fill the gap in long term care to
allow loved ones to stay at home as they age. This care can
include assisting with medical or nursing tasks like giving
medications, wound care, special diets, communicating with
doctors as well as helping with personal needs, household
chores, transportation and financial management”. (“2014
State of the 50+ In Long Island, New York”, October 2014,
AARP) Providing this care can place a great deal of strain
on working caregivers and can often interfere with their
own families and work schedules.
If an individual has no family or friends to provide
this care, and unless he/she was proactive and purchased
long-term care insurance when he/she was younger, that
individual may very likely be responsible for the full cost
of his/her care should long-term care be needed. Today,
in New York, a private home health aide can cost between
$22 and $30 an hour. This is certainly well above what the
average middle-income individual can afford; therefore, for
many people, the only option is to apply for Medicaid to
cover the cost of home care.
No matter where one resides in New York State, there
is a specific process for applying for state-funded Medical
Assistance with regard to home care services. The first
step is to apply for Community Medicaid. As Medicaid is
a “means-tested” government benefit, an applicant must
provide proof that he/she is financially eligible to qualify
for Medicaid. For 2018, the New York Resource allowance
is $15,150 with no more than $862 in monthly income in
order to be deemed eligible for Medicaid. Although many
people may be above these levels, there are options available
within the framework of the Medicaid law that will help
ensure eligibility.
Once a Community Medicaid application has been
approved, the next step in obtaining home care services is
an independent evaluation by the New York State Medicaid
Choice. A nurse will visit the Medicaid applicant in his/her
home (or nursing home/hospital if the individual is being
discharged home and needs long-term home care) and
complete a thorough assessment of the applicant’s medical
and mental condition as well as the home environment.
After the applicant is approved, he/she must enroll in
a Managed Long-Term Care Plan (MLTC). The MLTC
will make a determination as to the number of hours
and number of days per week that they will provide the
applicant. If the MLTC enrollment occurs prior to the 15th
of a given month, then services should begin by the 1st day
of the following month. If the enrollment is completed after
the 15th, the services will be delayed until the month after
that.
It is very important that a private geriatric care manager
and/or family member be present for the MLTC evaluation
in order to advocate for the applicant. The attorney assisting
with the application can and should arrange for this.
The rules and regulations governing Medicaid are
complex and can be confusing and, in addition, each county
may have their own procedures. Therefore, it is advisable
that an applicant retain the services of an experienced elder
care attorney who is well versed with federal, state and local
Medicaid requirements. If you are in need of long-term
care or would like to learn how to plan for the possibility of
requiring long term care in the future, it is always advisable
to speak to an experienced New York elder law attorney.
Ronald A. Fatoullah, Esq. is the founder of Ronald Fatoullah & Associates, a law firm that concentrates in elder law, estate planning, Medicaid planning,
guardianships, special needs planning, 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.
link
