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December 9, 2004
Last week I reported about several bills that have started the long and winding road to becoming a law. Although the deadline for filing bills was December 1, 2004, the legislature has made an exception by allowing an additional 2 weeks for more Representatives and Senators to “sign on” to these bills.
Because we now have this additional time, I am asking each of you to call your representatives and senators and ask them to please “sign on” to these bills. Please tell your legislator the name of the bill and who the lead sponsors are. This will enable them to contact those legislators who have sponsored the bills to make arrangements to “sign on” to the bill. For your convenience, I have restated the Bills and their lead sponsors.
· Income First - Representative Doug Peterson and Senator Mark Montigny
· Community Spouse Resource Allowance - Representative Frank Smizik and Senator Mark Montigny
· Transfer of Assets Waiver Repeal - Representative Frank Hynes and Senator Robert Creedon
· Long Term Care Insurance & Estate Recovery - Representative Kathleen Teahan
· Personal Needs Allowance Restoration - Representative Ann Paulson and Senator Steve Panagiotakos
· Long Term Care Public Education Program - Representative Ruth Balser
Right now, we are at the starting gate for the creation of a new law. Let me explain how a law is made in Massachusetts.
In Massachusetts we have a 160-member House of Representatives and a 40-member Senate, together they are known as the General Court. Lawmaking begins in either the House or Senate where bills are recorded in a docket book. We are not at this point yet with any of these new bills. When the Senate passes a bill it will eventually go to the House for approval and conversely bills that start and pass the House will likewise go to the Senate for approval. As of today, December 1, 2004, these new bills have not been recorded nor received a docket number.
Once the bill has a docket number it is assigned to a joint committee made up of six senators and eleven representatives. There are 21 such committees that study the bills and issues reports recommending that the bill “ought to pass” or “ought not to pass”.
If any of these bills receive an “ought to pass”, they will be referred to the Senate or House Committee on Ways and Means. The bill then goes back to the legislature to be voted on and if passed, goes to the second legislative branch for their vote.
When the House and Senate approve similar, but not exact, versions of a bill, the next step in the legislative process is a conference committee. A conference committee is made up of 3 members from each legislative branch representing both political parties to form a compromise piece of legislation. When a compromise is reached, the bill is sent to both legislative branches for their approval. A vote “to enact” the bill, first in the House and later in the Senate, is the final step in the passage of a bill by the legislature. It then goes to the Governor for signature.
For the next few weeks I’m going to take a closer look at each of the bills mentioned above to try and explain what these bills mean and how they will improve the lives of seniors in Massachusetts. For today, I’d like to go over the requested increase in the personal needs account.
Personal Needs Allowance Restoration - Sponsored by Representative Ann Paulson and Senator Steve Panagiotakos
$60 is a number that hasn’t changed in at least 10 years. This is the monthly amount that a person in a nursing home is allowed to keep to pay for their personal needs. The request is that it be increased to $72.80 and that there is a cost of living adjustment made annually.
What can you buy for $60? Don’t forget, you have a phone bill. And don’t forget to pay the cable either. Newspaper, hairdresser and clothing also come out of your personal needs allowance. So what does that leave you? Maybe enough to buy a birthday card for your son? You get the picture! They are stuck in a place that they don’t want to be, and their only escape is their phone and cable. Assuming that it is reasonable to have these “luxuries”, there is very little left for things as simple as getting their haircut.
You say, “What about the family?, They should help.”. The fact is that many families do pitch in to help financially. Some nursing home residents don’t have any family or only family who live far away. These people need our help.
Next week’s article will be of interest to anyone who has or is considering purchasing long-term care insurance. The bill that has been offered seeks to make a technical correction to the regulations that will ensure that your home is protected against the cost of nursing home care if you purchase a long-term care insurance policy.
This article gives general information and not specific advice on individual matters. Persons wanting individualized advice on matters discussed should contact an advisor experienced in those matters. To the extent this article provides information on legal matters, it is based on law in effect in Massachusetts on the date of posting (laws in effect in other states are often quite different).
Ronald H. Surabian is a CPA and attorney who works at the Elder Law Center in Saugus, Massachusetts. He also holds a masters in accounting and a masters in tax law. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. If you have any questions please call me at the Elder Law Center, One Essex Street, Saugus, MA 01906 (781)233-4444. To view this or any prior article, please visit our web site at www.elderlawcenter.org