Severns & Howard, P.C. Blog

Many of our clients have loved ones with special needs.  We recommend certain specialized estate planning tools, including Special Needs Trusts and

In today's world, technology is allowing more people to be active and receive assistance from more than just those living near them. Creating more opportunities and allowing those with a disability to live more independently. One such technological advancement is the mobile app Be My Eyes.

Be My Eyes is a free mobile app with one main goal: to make the world more accessible for the blind and visually impaired. The app connects blind and visually impaired individuals with sighted volunteers and companies from all over the world through a live video call.

New rules have been put in place to protect seniors with brokerage accounts from financial scams that could drain the accounts before anyone notices.

As the population ages, elder financial abuse is a mounting problem. Vulnerable seniors can become victims of scammers who convince them to empty their investment accounts. According to the

May is Mental Health Awareness month.  One in four older adults experiences some type of mental disorder, including depression, anxiety, or dementia. 

As noted by Dr.
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If your Medicare drug plan denies coverage for a drug you need, you don't have to simply accept it. There are several steps you can take to fight the decision.

The insurers offering Medicare drug plans choose the medicines -- both brand-name and generic -- that they will include in a plan's "formulary," the roster of drugs the plan covers and will pay for that changes year-to-year. If a drug you need is not in the plan's formulary or has been dropped from the formulary, the plan can deny coverage. Plans may also charge more for a drug than you think you should have to pay or deny you coverage for a drug in the formulary because it doesn't believe you need the drug.

Many of our clients rely on benefits they receive from the Social Security Administration to help them meet their daily needs. There are several programs within Social Security that provide these essential benefits, and the program under which you might receive those benefits depends on your circumstances.

Retirement benefits: Retirement benefits are available to people who have worked for at least ten years and have paid Social Security taxes out of their earnings.
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A new federal law is designed to address the growing problem of elder abuse. The law supports efforts to better understand, prevent, and combat both financial and physical elder abuse.

The prevalence of elder abuse is hard to calculate because it is underreported, but according to the National Council on Aging, approximately 1 in 10 Americans age 60 or older have experienced some form of elder abuse.
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Partner, Anna Howard, in conjunction with Community Health Network will be giving a series of lectures regarding Power of Attorneys and Healthcare Power of Attorney Declarations at the following locations throughout the month of May:

• May 10^th at 3:00 p.m. at the Community South Education Center located at 1402 County Line Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46227.

   

• May 17^th at 3:00 p.m.

The federal government is issuing new Medicare cards to all Medicare beneficiaries. To prevent fraud and fight identity theft, the new cards will no longer have beneficiaries' Social Security numbers on them.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is replacing each beneficiary's Social Security number with a unique identification number, called a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI). Each MBI will consist of a combination of 11 randomly generated numbers and upper case letters. The characters are "non-intelligent," which means they don't have any hidden or special meaning.
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            February is American Heart Month.  As we all know the heart is special because the blood provides your body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs.  Our doctors encourage us to maintain a healthy heart through diet and exercise.  How do we maintain a healthy heart?  Here are several tips to help you keep a health heart:

• Blood Pressure – By monitoring your blood pressure you can ensure that you keep it within a normal range.  High blood pressure is often referred to as the silent killer.
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