Medi-Cal Has Announced 2017 Average Private Pay Rate for Long Term Care in California by Kevin Staker

Medi-Cal Has Announced 2017 Average Private Pay Rate for Long Term Care in California by Kevin Staker

The Average Private Pay Rate ("APPR") for 2017 for Medi-Cal, the California equivalent of Medic-Aid, has been announced.  The amount is $8,515.  The authority/confirmation for this amount can be found at www.canhr.org/medcal/PDFs/RateCOLA.pdf.

The APPR is the average amount the California Department of Health Services believes nursing homes charge each month for a patient in long term care in a facility.  The APPR is also very important in planning to qualify for Medi-Cal to pay for long term care for an individual in a nursing home.  If you give $8,515 to an individual, not your spouse or a disabled child, it will result in one month of ineligibility from Medi-Cal.

Hence, any gift causes ineligibility for months based on the amount of the gift divided by the $8,515.  The strange quirk in California law is the period of ineligibility is the number of months rounded down.  Thus, a gift of $8,514.99 or less will result in no period of ineligibility.  This is a tremendous loophole. 

An individual who needs to go into a nursing home can give away under $8,515 per account per day per individual and it will not cause any period of ineligibility. 

For more information go to the Medi-Cal planning page of the website of Kevin Staker at StakerLaw.  This page is found at .

By Kevin Staker

Increasing Your Fitness for Golf

Experienced in probate and trust mediation, Kevin Staker operates a solo legal practice in California. In his spare time, Kevin Staker can often be found on the golf course, perfecting his game.

As a golfer you can take several measures besides practice to improve your game overall. Here are some of them, as mentioned in Golf Digest:

- Drink plenty of water. Doing so curbs your appetite, promoting weight loss. It also promotes a better swing, since it increases power and endurance. Minimum recommendation: 70 ounces per day.

- Walk a minimum of 7,000 steps a day. Lengthy sitting can cause back and hip problems and affect your swing. If you can’t get in this much walking on the course, try the mall or your neighborhood.

- Boost your heart rate. Regular cardio and interval training will improve your ability to concentrate on crucial plays during matches.

- Include glute exercises in your workout. Well-exercised butt muscles can contribute to a powerful swing. When sitting, contract them, both together at once and alternating left and right. Take the stairs when you can.

- Exercise in all three planes. Commonly, people exercise only forward and backward. However, the golf swing also involves lateral (side to side) and rotational (twisting) motions. Such activities as medicine ball practice, torso lunges, and lateral and rotational jumps build flexibility.

- Use self-massage. Foam rollers and other tools such as foam sticks and balls increase muscle pliability, which improves your swing. Work the back, hips, and calves for 15 minutes two or three times a week.

- Finally, keep track of calories. Smartphone apps can track the caloric value of your food intake. Restricting what you eat using this technology will improve your mobility, give you more energy, and reduce stress on your bones.