Think Inc.
A forum for Hawaii's
business community to discuss
current events and issues.
Think Inc.
A forum for Hawaii's
business community to discuss
current events and issues.
Traveling companion | Medicare traps BACK TO TOP
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Occasionally, the opportunity to work abroad arises in one's professional career. Having personally worked in several countries, I can vouch for the enrichment gained through such unique professional experiences.
Before working overseas,
consider whether you are
adequately preparedBy Niti Villinger
There are some things one should consider seriously, however, when thinking about working abroad. Initially, a careful self-assessment or an internal evaluation of one's personal qualities and objectives is necessary. On the whole, the experiences are rich and diverse, but one should be adequately prepared. First of all, consider whether you have the stamina and patience for an international posting. Language and culturally diverse situations may force you to be more patient and understanding. Taking care of administrative issues, dealing with bureaucracy and handling potentially unfavorable local personnel might make the posting a challenge.
Secondly, your own cultural sensitivity needs to be considered. Managers in international settings have to be highly sensitive to the local culture in which they work. This means respecting traditions, making efforts to integrate themselves into the culture, learning about the country's culture(s) and institutions and just "getting along" with everyone in that society. This does not mean that you have to compromise your own values. Rather, it means you have to respect the other culture or tradition.
As a professional representing your company, you have some responsibility in sharing knowledge and in working well with local colleagues.
Sometimes, managers from headquarters or from developed countries represent a source of learning for the local country environment. There is the expectation that these managers will bring knowledge, new technology, and an awareness of cutting-edge practices to the hosting country. Local managers might be forgiving of a foreigner who does not speak their language perfectly, but they will expect that you are bringing some new ideas or techniques to the local environment.
Language and cultural barriers might be significant. They can be overcome but they require understanding.
Many companies now train their managers for an overseas position. Reading about the country you will work in is a must in this situation.
Also, managers should learn from other managers who have worked in that country. They can learn from their mistakes and their achievements.
Visiting the country before the move is another important exercise. While it will not entirely replicate the experience - a short visit is not quite the same as living in a country for several years - it is useful in terms of planning one's career move.
Another important thing worth considering: how will your current boss view your overseas move?
Sometimes, companies "forget" about employees who have moved overseas. In other situations, the employee may have significantly improved his or her marketability by working overseas.
These are all important factors to consider in a professional overseas move. On the whole, it is an extremely worthwhile experience, but it does require careful planning.
Niti Villinger is an assistant professor of management at Hawaii Pacific University. She can be reached at nvillinger@hpu.edu. BACK TO TOP
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Nursing homes cost more than $84,000 a year in Hawaii today. How would you and your family meet such burdensome expenses if you or a loved one needed nursing home care? Most people know that there is a public benefits program to assist in the payment of nursing home costs. This program is called the Medicaid, or MEDQuest in Hawaii. YOUR ESTATE MATTERS
Medicaid law hides many
traps to snag the unwaryThis is the first of two articles on traps
in navigating the Medicaid system.By Judith Lee Sterling
and Michelle TuckerPeople ask friends and family about how to get Medicaid to pay for nursing home care costs. There is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about the Medicaid program. Few attorneys really know the Medicaid law.
Unless you get good, accurate information you can fall into traps that will prevent you or your loved ones from getting help with nursing home bills. Here are some of the traps for the unwary.
1) "My health insurance will cover my long term care needs." Not true. Check the terms of your health care plans. These plans are usually not designed to cover much if any long term care. They are designed to cover acute care. Most nursing home care is custodial care and not acute care.
2) "Medicare will cover my nursing home bill." Not true. Medicare only covers about 2 percent of the nursing home care provided in the United States. Medicare will cover 20 days completely if you enter a nursing home within 30 days of a 3-day hospital stay. An additional 80 days is partially covered and that is it. After that you need to pay with your own money unless you qualify for Medicaid. Even worse, unless skilled nursing or particular kinds of therapy are needed, the care can be downgraded to custodial and the Medicare benefits cease even though the 100 days have not been used up.
3) "I have to use up all my assets on nursing home care before I can qualify for Medicaid." Not true. You can qualify for Medicaid after you have gifted away assets provided you follow specific Medicaid rules and you can use the assets that you have to pay for home improvements and for other goods and services where you get back fair value in return. Don't let the nursing home personnel convince you that you have to private pay until you have used up all your assets.
4) "I have to give away everything I own to qualify for Medicaid." Not true. You can qualify for Medicaid and still retain certain assets. Assets are divided into countable and exempt assets and you can keep the exempt assets and $2,000 of countable assets and, if you are married, your spouse who is not qualifying for Medicaid, can keep $89,280 in countable assets in this year. Sorting this out can be complicated.
5) "I can't give away anything and expect to get Medicaid." Not true. Under the Medicaid rules some assets can be given away and you can still qualify for Medicaid. It all depends on who the assets are transferred to, when the assets are transferred and the amounts that are transferred.
6) "I have to wait three years after making any gifts in order to qualify for Medicaid." Not true. There is a three-year and sometimes a five-year "look back" period when you make transfers of assets. You will need to explain any transfers made in the "look back" period when you apply for Medicaid. However, the actual disqualification period, called the "penalty period" may be more or less than the "look back" period. Some transfers do not cause any penalty period to apply.
7) "I can only give away $10,000 a year under the Medicaid rules." Not true. The rule about gifting $10,000 a year applies to the federal estate and gift tax and is not a Medicaid rule. This rule is of concern to people with more than $1 million in assets. Do not let confusing the tax law and the Medicaid law keep you from doing long term care planning.
8) "My income will have to be used to pay my spouse's nursing home costs." Not true. In Hawaii, the healthy spouse can keep all of the healthy spouse's income.
9) "All of my spouse's income will have to be used for my spouse's nursing home costs." Not true. The healthy spouse can get some or all of the ill spouse's income so that the total monthly income of the healthy spouse is brought up to a fixed minimum amount. In Hawaii, this amount is $2,232 a month this year.
10) "I can hide my assets and get Medicaid." Not true. Hiding your assets and then completing a fraudulent Medicaid application is a criminal offense. You or whoever applied for you knowingly misrepresenting your assets can be prosecuted for Medicaid fraud.
The Medicaid law is complicated and full of traps for the unwary. Consult with a knowledgeable attorney in doing planning for long-term care costs. Consult with an "elder law" attorney with experience in planning for long term care and knowledge of the Medicaid system in Hawaii.
Judith Lee Sterling and Michelle Tucker are partners in the Honolulu law firm of Sterling & Tucker. For a copy of "10 questions to ask before you engage an attorney to help you in Planning for Medicaid/Long Term Care," call 531-5391.
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