By Josh Ard, Esq.
Advocacy was the driving force behind the establishment of one of the newest NAELA Chapters.
Earlier this year, we caught up with Cheryl Shaw, a past president of the NAELA Rhode Island Chapter and a current member of its board of directors, to interview her for this article.
Rhode Island is the smallest state. In fact there are hundreds of counties in the United States that have a larger area. It is roughly the size of the area covered by the Houston bus system. There is a ranch in Texas, the King Ranch, that is almost the same size. A state this small has unusual characteristics that will be reflected in the NAELA Chapter of that state.
One unusual characteristic is that any Rhode Island senior who needs services can easily cross state lines to obtain them. According to Ms. Shaw, “Rhode Island’s small size presents our members with some unique challenges. As you know, although Medicaid is a federal program, the rules vary from state to state and to best serve our clientele, one of the challenges is to keep up with the rules in the border states of Massachusetts and Connecticut since many of our clients could just as easily receive care there instead of in Rhode Island.
“Being part of NAELA makes it easier for us to have access to this information and to collaborate with colleagues in other states so that we can determine the best placement options for each client’s particular situation. I explain to clients that the rules for Medicaid eligibility will be determined by the laws of the state where the client receives the care, so if there is a chance they may move to another state if long-term care becomes an issue, then I suggest that we work with an attorney in that state as well.
“I am licensed in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts, but do not do crisis planning in Massachusetts. I refer those cases to an attorney who is preferably in close proximity to the location where the client receives the care and has experience in dealing with the Medicaid office and caseworkers for that location. I have also consulted with attorneys in other states when doing advanced planning if there is a chance the client will leave Rhode Island if the client needs care in the future.”
The Rhode Island Chapter is relatively new. The history is similar to that found in many other states — the organization grew out of a state bar group that found itself limited by restrictions placed on such organizations. Again, Ms. Shaw amplifies: “It was a long journey to the establishment of the Chapter, which began with forming an informal group of attorneys as a subcommittee of our Bar Association Probate and Trust Committee. The small group of us who initially started this did a lot of outreach work to other attorneys to build attendance and participation which eventually led to our having enough interest to formally start a Rhode Island Chapter of NAELA. Yes, there are state dues in addition to the national dues, and some of us, myself included, also pay dues to other states to belong to these Chapters as well.
“Although we were technically under the umbrella of the Bar’s Probate and Trust Committee, we established our own separate listserve and met separately as a group each month. While the collaboration was beneficial, we found that we were limited by the Subcommittee structure of our Bar organization in the sense that we had no ability to take formal positions in the name of the Subcommittee on things like proposed legislation, and could only speak out publically as individual practitioners. So while we benefitted from the group discussion and collaboration, we had no collective voice and no ability to advocate formally as an organization. This limitation was the driving force behind our establishment of the Rhode Island Chapter of NAELA.
“In February 2015, the Governor of Rhode Island signed the Reinventing Medicaid Act, which provided for the formation of a ‘Working Group to Reinvent Medicaid’ with the goal of fundamentally restructuring the Medicaid program. Along with this came hastily proposed, sweeping legislative changes such as expanded estate recovery rules and attempts to end the use of annuities and promissory notes. We found ourselves scrambling to respond to and advocate against the proposed changes, which came quickly and without much warning. Many individual members reached out to their elected representatives and attended public hearings to testify against the proposed legislation. In the end, we were fortunate and the legislation did not pass, but it was an eye-opening experience and we realized we really needed more support as an organization to best position ourselves to react quickly and effectively to any future challenges.
“Accordingly, we started the process of forming a Rhode Island Chapter of NAELA. We began adding members to the Chapter on September 1, 2015, and we were officially chartered on February 29, 2016. I think one of our biggest accomplishments to date is simply the act of coming together to form and grow the Chapter. We started with 17 members, and in this short amount of time, we have grown to 53 active members.”
The Chapter relies on information from NAELA to provide an overall grounding in elder law issues. Ms. Shaw says, “NAELA has its finger on the pulse of what is happening at a broad national level, and we wanted to be able to call upon the vast institutional knowledge if we needed support in the event of potential legislative changes. It is helpful to know the arguments made and procedural processes that other states may have gone through when faced with similar challenges.”
Citation
1 R.I.G.L. Section 42-7.2-16.1.
About the Author
Josh Ard, Esq., Law Office of Josh Ard, Williamston, Michigan, is a member of the NAELA News Editorial Board.
Rhode Island NAELA Chapter
Although the chapter is young and small, it has accomplished much already. Readers are encouraged to peruse its website at http://www.RINAELA.com.
A few examples of what the chapter already provides its members through the website:
• Rhode Island Cases of Interest
• Rhode Island Fair Hearings of Interest
• Rhode Island LTC Medicaid Application Issues of Interest
• Chapter Member Shared Documents
• Education Committee Reports
• Legislation Committee Reports
• Ethics Committee Reports
• Membership Committee Reports
• Chapter Survey Results
• Chapter Secretary Meeting Reports
• Chapter Bylaws
Moreover, most months there are meetings with guest speakers.