News

Social Security trust fund will be depleted in 2033 — one year earlier than the previous estimates. Once the fund is depleted, Social Security benefits will be reduced unless Congress acts in the interim.

Social Security retirement benefits are financed primarily through dedicated payroll taxes paid by workers and their employers, with employees and employers splitting the tax equally. Employers pay 6.2 percent of an employee’s income into the Social Security system, and the employee kicks in the same. Self-employed individuals pay the entire 12.4 percent Social Security payroll tax. This money is put into a trust fund that is used to pay retiree benefits.

The trustees of the Social Security trust fund now predict that if Congress doesn’t take action, the fund’s balance will reach zero in 2033. The coronavirus pandemic has caused job losses, lowered wages and interest rates, and a drop in gross domestic product, which means payroll taxes declined. Sadly, an increase in deaths of older Americans due to Covid helped to keep Social Security from losing as much money as some had feared.  The impact of the pandemic over the longer term is still unclear, and the trustees said they are making no long-range assumptions “given the unprecedented level of uncertainty.”

Once the fund runs out of money, it does not mean that benefits stop altogether. Instead, retirees’ benefits would be cut. According to the trustees’ projections, the fund’s income from payroll taxes would be sufficient to pay retirees 76 percent of their total benefit (or 78 percent if the Disability Insurance fund is included).

The trustees recommend that Congress take immediate action to address the problem, but Social Security reform is not a top priority in Washington right now. Steps Congress could take to shore up Social Security include eliminating the cap on income subject to tax. Right now, workers pay Social Security tax only on the first $142,800 of income (in 2021). That amount can be increased, so that higher-earning workers pay more in taxes. The Social Security tax or the retirement age could also be increased.

For more on what the trustee’s report means, click here.

MacElree Harvey earned a spot on the Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania Top 100 list for 2021.

Best Places to Work in PA is a survey competition to determine which participants are the best employers. The process is managed by Best Companies Group (BCG) and winners are published by the Central Penn Business Journal and Lehigh Valley Business.

MacElree Harvey is among 47 small companies representing all of Pennsylvania to earn this designation, and the only law firm to win in Chester County. Congratulations to the three other winners located in Chester County: Fischer Cunnane & Associates, LINKBANK, and Valley Forge Financial Group.

Eligibility for the Best Places to Work designation requires employers to complete an in-depth questionnaire and employees to offer their honest feedback by taking part in a company-wide, three part survey.

Results are analyzed according to 8 Core Focus Areas:

• Leadership and Planning
• Corporate Culture and Communications
• Role Satisfaction
• Work Environment
• Relationship with Supervisor
• Training, Development and Resources
• Pay and Benefits
• Overall Engagement

Winners are chosen based on who receives the highest combined scores in the twofold evaluation. Using a formula similar to Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in America,” the Best Companies Group surveys and scores the workplace and each candidate is given an overall score.

Making the list is a prestigious honor and winners improve their visibility and appeal to jobseekers from around the globe by carrying a trusted stamp of approval as a “Best Places to Work in PA” company.

 

Funds will benefit Chester County Organizations Supporting Children of Traditionally Marginalized Communities

(WEST CHESTER, PA – July 15, 2021): The MacElree Harvey, Ltd. Technology Fund for Economically Disadvantaged Children was created in 2020. The mission is to provide funds for educational computer hardware or software and other tools to children of economically marginalized communities who are underrepresented and have been denied the full complement of the educational equipment needed to successfully compete in the 21st Century. The fund is a fund of the Chester County Community Foundation.

This summer, the fund is pleased to announce its first grant awards: $2,100 to the Garage Community & Youth Center, $2,100 to the Maternal & Child Health Consortium, and $2,100 to the Youth Men & Women In Charge (YMWIC).

Fund Advisor and Community Foundation Board Member John McKenna, Esq. shares his thoughts on this exciting grant announcement. “MacElree Harvey stands for diversity, equity and inclusion.”

The Garage Community & Youth Center is an after school and Youth Development program serving Middle and High School Students in Kennett Square and West Grove. They provide resources, hope, and life for their students. The Maternal & Child Health Consortium helps children in Chester County get the best start in life and those parents can raise their children to be healthy and do well in school. Through different programming they provide mothers with resources, knowledge, and support for their child to be successful. The YMWIC works to empower young men and women to go into fields of STEM through mentoring, tutoring, and leadership seminars.

To make a donation or learn more about the MacElree Harvey, Ltd. Technology Fund for Economically Disadvantaged Children, please visit: bit.ly/3krmNpa.

Photo Caption (from left to right)

Top photo: Richard Roberts III, Young Men and Women In Charge Foundation; Kate Martin, The Garage Community and Youth Center; Michael Louis, Esq., MacElree Harvey; John McKenna, Esq., MacElree Harvey; Milena Oberti-Lanz, Maternal and Child Health Consortium; Kristin Proto, The Garage Community and Youth Center; and Beth Harper Briglia, CAP, CPA.

Bottom Left: Michael Louis, Esq., MacElree Harvey; Richard Roberts III, Young Men and Women In Charge Foundation; and John McKenna, Esq.

Bottom Middle: Michael Louis, Esq., MacElree Harvey; Kate Martin, The Garage Community and Youth Center; Kristin Proto, The Garage Community and Youth Center; and John McKenna, Esq.

Bottom Right: Michael Louis, Esq., MacElree Harvey; Milena Oberti-Lanz, Maternal and Child Health Consortium; and John McKenna, Esq.

 

To qualify for Medicaid coverage of long-term care, you must satisfy very complicated financial eligibility rules—rules that often can be traps for the unwary. One of the most significant traps is Medicaid’s right to recover its expenses from your estate after you die – a practice known as “estate recovery.”

Under current Medicaid law, states are required to attempt to recoup Medicaid spending for long-term care services. Since about the only asset you’re allowed to own and still get Medicaid coverage is your home, this right of estate recovery is the state’s claim against your home. In other words, if you own a home, Medicaid is really a loan. It will pay for your care, but your house will have to be sold when you die to repay the state for the services it provided.

Now, five elder advocacy groups are calling on Congress to eliminate Medicaid estate recovery after a congressional advisory commission concluded that the practice recoups only a tiny percentage of Medicaid spending while contributing to generational poverty and wealth inequity.

“The burden of estate claims falls disproportionately on economically oppressed families and communities of color, preventing families from building wealth through home ownership, which has been historically denied to communities of color through discriminatory public policy,” the five groups – Justice in Aging, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the National Health Law Program, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, and the Western Center on Law & Poverty – wrote in a jointly authored Issue Brief, Medicaid Estate Claims: Perpetuating Poverty & Inequality for a Minimal Return. “Congress should amend Federal law to eliminate Medicaid estate claims. Alternatively, the law should be amended so that states have the choice of whether to use Medicaid estate claims, as recommended in a recent report to Congress by the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC).”

In its March 2021 report to Congress, MACPAC recommended that Congress amend Medicaid law to make estate recovery optional for states, rather than required as it is now. The group, a non-partisan legislative branch agency that provides analysis and recommendations to Congress, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the states, also recommends that HHS set minimum standards for hardship waivers under the Medicaid estate recovery program.  Currently, it’s up to the states to decide what qualifies as “hardship.”

Pointing out that estate recovery recoups only about 0.55 percent of total fee-for-service long-term care spending, MACPAC recommends that states not be allowed to pursue recovery against any asset that is “the sole income-producing asset of survivors,” homes of “modest value,” or any estate valued under a certain dollar figure.

In their Issue Brief, the five advocacy groups go a step further. Noting that “no other public benefit program requires that correctly paid benefits be recouped from deceased recipients’ family members,” they call for the elimination of estate recovery “so that low-income families are better able to retain wealth and pass it on to future generations. Or, at a minimum, federal law should be amended to make estate claims voluntary.”

The Issue Brief details how Medicaid estate recovery keeps families in poverty, exacerbates racial wealth gaps, and runs counter to efforts to create more affordable housing.

To read the Issue Brief, click here.

To read the relevant chapter of MACPAC’s report to Congress, click here.

Medicaid long-term care benefits traditionally pay mainly for nursing home care, but the federal government can grant “waivers” to states allowing them to expand Medicaid to include home and community-based services. The downside is that receiving care in a nursing home is an entitlement, while getting care at home is not.

Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that provides health insurance coverage to low-income children, seniors, and people with disabilities. In addition, it covers care in a nursing home for those who qualify. Each state operates its own Medicaid system, but this system must conform to federal guidelines in order for the state to receive federal money, which pays for about half the state’s Medicaid costs. (The state picks up the rest of the tab.) A Medicaid waiver allows states to waive some of the federal rules with the intention of providing services to individuals who wouldn’t normally be covered by Medicaid. The waiver must be approved by the federal government.

The most common type of Medicaid waiver expands Medicaid to cover home care to individuals who need a high level of care, but who would like to remain at home rather than enter a nursing home. Care that may be provided by a waiver includes personal attendants, home health aides, medical supplies and equipment, respite care, counseling services, transportation, homemaking services, hot meal delivery, and more.

Each state sets up its own waiver program, so the rules and requirements vary widely. Usually, to qualify an applicant must need a level of care similar to what is needed to qualify for Medicaid coverage in a nursing home. The point of the waiver is to allow an individual who would normally need nursing home care to remain at home, which is typically a far less costly form of care. States may also target different health conditions, such as HIV, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, among others. Each state also sets its own income and asset levels for its waiver programs, which may vary from state to state, and may be different from the income and asset levels used for Medicaid coverage of nursing home care.

The downside of state waiver programs is that waivers are not an entitlement, meaning that states are allowed to limit the number of people who qualify for services under a waiver. Just because an applicant meets the criteria for eligibility does not mean the applicant will be approved for the services. As a result, waitlists for filled programs can run for months or years.

To find and apply for a waiver program in your state, contact your state Medicaid office.