28 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • AUGUST 20, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
health
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital seeking donations to fund new women’s health center
BY JASMINE PALMA
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital (SJEH) is
hoping to expand accessibility to women’s
health care services.
Th e hospital announced that it is collecting
donations to fi nance equipment
for its new Women’s Health Center.
“We invite anyone to make a donation
on the website,” said Nancy Leghart,
director of foundation. “Donations of any
amount are greatly appreciated and will
go directly toward purchasing essential,
life-saving equipment.”
An annual golf fundraiser was to take
place this summer, however, it was canceled
due to the pandemic. Instead, the
hospital is hosting a series of fundraisers
via social media platforms and email, as
well as accepting donations on its website.
Following guidelines from the 2017
Kaiser Women’s Health Survey, which
details information on the coverage,
use and access to health care off ered to
women ages 18 to 64, the hospital said
they hope to eliminate the logistical barriers
to health care women face.
Th e survey found that women oft en
face these barriers due to their career and
maternal responsibilities and obligations.
About a quarter of women said they don’t
seek the care they need because they don’t
have the time and can not take time off
from work.
Transportation and childcare was
another obstacle in receiving care,
though to a lesser extent than maternal
and career obligations, according to
the survey. However, 34 percent of lowincome
women said they have missed
care because of childcare and transportation
issues, in contrast to just 19 percent
of higher income women.
According to the hospital, the Women’s
Health Center will coalesce women’s
health care services, off ering gynecological
and obstetrical services, behavioral
health, maternal fetal medicine, urogynecology,
gynecological oncology,
breast surgery, nutrition, 3-D mammography,
bone density and ultrasounds in
one place.
Donations will go directly toward the
purchase of a handful of mechanical
equipment, including a 3-D mammography,
allowing clear view of breast tissue
to facilitate breast cancer detection,
enhancing the ability to see an otherwise
obscured tumor by overlying tissue; a
bone density machine, which will enable
diagnosis for osteoporosis and provide
a fracture risk assessment; and an ultrasound,
which can provide high-resolution
imaging.
Elder Law Minute TM
Planning for Adult Children with Special Needs
BY RONALD A. FATOULLAH, ES Q.
AND EVA SCHWECHTER, ESQ.
Parents of children with special needs
face unique challenges in raising their
children. One such challenge is the question
of what to do when a child with special
needs turns 18, the legal age of adulthood.
It is during the few years aft er a
child turns 18 that the services and programs
associated with the public education
system end and are replaced by different
benefi ts targeted toward adults.
Managing the transition from services
for minors to adult care presents one of
the greatest challenges for parents of children
with special needs. Th ere are a number
of paths parents can take to ensure
that their adult child is best provided for
in the future.
First, parents must ensure that there
is someone who is authorized to make
monetary and health care decisions
for their child once she reaches majority
age. One such option is to pursue
a guardianship. This process involves
hiring an attorney and providing medical
proof to the court of the child’s
legal incapacity, among other things.
At the conclusion of the process, if the
court declares that the child is incapable
of making decisions on her own,
they will appoint the petitioner (usually
the parent) as guardian. Following
appointment, the guardian must make
periodic accountings to the court, to
ensure that she is acting in the child’s
best interest. Courts typically require
that guardians ask for court approval
before making any large-scale decisions
ELDER LAW
regarding a ward’s finances or
living situation.
Alternatives to guardianships exist that
can help avoid the cost and burden of
guardianship. If the 18-year-old has adequate
capacity and understanding, she
may execute a durable power of attorney
giving an agent the power to make many
fi nancial decisions. She may also execute
a health care proxy designating an agent
to make health care decisions on her
behalf. Th ese documents, when properly
draft ed and executed, are usually suffi
cient to prevent a parent from having
to resort to guardianship if their child’s
decision-making ability becomes more
limited later in life.
Another concern for parents of children
with disabilities is continuing
health care coverage. Once a child turns
18, her own income and assets factor
into the calculation for Supplemental
Security Income (“SSI”). If a child has
more than $2,000 in assets when she
reaches the age of 18, she will be ineligible
for SSI. To avoid this situation and
allow the child to maintain her SSI and
Medicaid benefi ts, a parent, grandparent,
guardian or the court has the power
to create a trust, known as a “fi rst-party”
supplemental needs trust (“fi rst-party
SNT”) to hold her savings. Any assets
held by the trust do not count towards
the $2,000 asset limit for SSI, allowing
her to qualify. One requirement of a fi rst
party SNT is that when the benefi ciary
passes away, any funds remaining in the
trust must be used to reimburse the state
for the benefi ts which the trust benefi -
ciary received during her lifetime. More
recently, ABLE Accounts, established
under the ABLE Act, allow people with
disabilities who became disabled before
they turned 26 to set aside up to $15,000
a year in tax-free savings accounts without
aff ecting their eligibility for government
benefi ts. Th ese accounts can be
used to pay for qualifying expenses of
the account benefi ciary, such as the costs
of treating the disability or for education,
housing and health care, among
other things. Certain restrictions apply
to ABLE accounts, including the limitation
of $100,000 in total funds.
In addition to preserving the child’s
own assets, parents want to be assured
that their child can benefi t from additional
services being paid for by themselves
or others without compromising
the child’s eligibility for government benefi
ts. Many families create trusts known
as “third-party” supplemental needs
trusts (“third-party SNT”). For a third
party SNT, families must fund the trusts
with their own assets, not with their
child’s funds. A requirement of the trust
is that the trustee is given complete discretion
to distribute the funds for a benefi
ciary’s care. As long as the trust is
properly draft ed and executed, the funds
held in the trust will not count as the
child’s assets. Furthermore, these trusts
do not have to contain a payback provision,
allowing families to place significant
amounts of money into the trust
without worrying that the government
will receive a large portion later on. Th e
trusts can then provide a child with special
needs with “supplemental” services
and care, in addition to those provided
via government benefi ts. Many parents
choose to provide for their child’s continued
maintenance by funding the SNT
with life insurance proceeds.
Th e transition to legal adulthood
presents parents of children with special
needs with various hurdles, including
transitions in terms of benefi ts programs,
education, and medical coverage.
Whenever this transition occurs, it
requires careful planning and extensive
research regarding the options available
in the particular community. Fortunately,
with proper planning and assistance from
professionals in the fi eld, these transitions
can be smooth and can open up
new opportunities for individuals with
special needs and their families.
Ronald A. Fatoullah, Esq. is the founder
of Ronald Fatoullah & Associates, a law
fi rm that concentrates in elder law, estate
planning, Medicaid planning, guardianships,
estate administration, trusts, wills,
and real estate. Eva Schwechter is an associate
attorney with the fi rm. Th e law fi rm
can be reached at 718-261-1700, 516-
466-4422, or toll free at 1-877-ELDERLAW
or 1-877-ESTATES. Mr. Fatoullah
is also a partner advisor with Advice
Period, a wealth management fi rm, and
he can be reached at 424-256-7273.
RONALD FATOULLAH
ESQ, CELA*
Photo courtesy of SJEH
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
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