It’s no secret that nursing homes across the country have been hard-hit in this pandemic and residents and their families are rightly concerned about safety.
Nursing homes are hard-hit by the coronavirus.
Here are two developments you will want to watch.
Commission on Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 30 announced a new independent commission, Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes, to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the nursing home response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Commission will provide independent recommendations and report to CMS to help inform immediate and future responses to COVID-19 in nursing homes.
Businesses grapple with safety issues while cautiously re-opening.
Communities are starting to ease their COVID19 restrictions, which means many businesses will be re-opening under new guidelines. While this is welcome news for many business owners, questions remain about workplace safety. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has an updated reference site for businesses with a guide to ongoing mitigation and resources for COVID19 prevention and support.
The site offers a special section for Frequently Asked Questions on the following topics: Suspected or Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in the Workplace, Reducing the Spread of COVID-19 in Workplaces, Healthy Business Operations, Cleaning and Disinfection in the Workplace, and Critical Infrastructure.
The Department of Labor also has a thorough safety guide compiled under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) available for download. This 35-page document is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations. It does contain recommendations as well as descriptions of mandatory safety and health standards. Download the OSHA guide at https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf
Many estate plan updates are being done by video conference.
With the ever-increasing number of deaths from the coronavirus in Europe and the U.S., many people are now focusing on getting their estate plans in order. Phone meetings or videoconferences with estate planning attorneys have become the new way of updating estate plans, says Barron’s in the article “The Coronavirus Has Americans Scrambling to Set Their Estate Plans. Here Are Some Key Things to Know.” This is the case at The Galligan Law Firm where we have been meeting with our clients by phone or video conference and arranging for documents to be executed in the safety of our clients’ homes.
People are worried, and they are in a hurry too.
Here are a few tips:
Everyone should have three basic documents: a last will or revocable living trust, a financial durable power of attorney, and a medical power of attorney. These documents will allow assets to be distributed, give another person the ability to make financial decisions, if you are too sick to do so, and allow another person to talk to medical professionals and make medical desisions on your behalf . These same documents are also a good idea for any young adults in the family, anyone older than 18 in Texas.
However, there’s more. In addition to these basic documents, everyone needs to review their beneficiary designations on assets that include bank accounts, IRAs, annuities, insurance policies and any other assets. If family situations have changed, these may be out of date.
Also, parents of minor children need to execute documents appointing guardians to care for their minor children in the event the parent is unable to do so.
While young adults may be more worried about the financial impact of the pandemic, seniors and the elderly are concerned about having documents in order. Wealthy people are concerned about the impact that the pandemic may have on estate planning law, and some are engaged in planning to make substantial gifts, in case the current estate and give tax exemptions are lowered.
Specific issues to be discussed with an estate planning attorney:
The advantages of certain trusts, which provide an opportunity to direct how assets will be held, invested and distributed before and after death.
Financial durable powers of attorney, which appoint an agent to make financial decisions.
Medical powers of attorney which let people designate an agent to make health decisions on their behalf
HIPAA Releases which allow family members receive health care and medical information from your health care providers.
Living wills, which allow people to designate whether to provide life-prolonging treatment, if in a terminal state
