client stories

I wanted to express my gratitude to the entire team at Senior Planning Services for the incredible effort they put forward on behalf of my mother, Yvette, in gaining her Medicaid approval. Most especially, I wish to thank Aaron Hoberman, Esther Gastfreund and Shani Jacobs for their sensitivity, positivity and responsiveness. Each made the application process less stressful and provided me and my family with great support and expert advice.

When I met with Aaron for the initial intake step, I was feeling overwhelmed by many things – my mother's declining health, concern for providing her with the best care possible despite her diminishing finances and anxiety about the Medicaid application process. Aaron immediately assured me that he and the SPS team would navigate the bureaucracy of the Medicaid process on our behalf. I was also greatly touched by Aaron's deference for my mother and the respect he demonstrated as we reviewed my mother's paperwork.

Esther and Shani are both amazing individuals. I worked closely with each of them – first with Esther, then Shani – during the application process. They were always responsive, positive and just delightful! I am so grateful to them both for their guidance and patience. Esther and Shani each possess a great "can do" attitude and were always gracious to me. Their diligence and knowledge of the system were what made the process a success.

All in all, our family's decision to engage Senior Planning Services was entirely worth it. I would highly recommend SPS to anyone who finds themselves in similar straits.

Thank you for taking the stress and the guesswork out the Medicaid application process and for the sensitivity and positive support your team provided us during this time.

With gratitude,
Theresa M. Nadolny

I would like to take a moment to thank Senior Planning Services for all you did for my mom and dad.

My father, Victor Ambrose was a resident of Sharon Health Care Center in Sharon, Connecticut. Jaim, Senior Social Worker of Sharon Health Care Center, handed us a brochure from SPS and highly recommended I call to begin the Medicaid process.

This process as we know can be quite daunting and at such a vulnerable time, can be unmanageable for any family to handle.

My first contact with SPS was with Katie Nolan. Katie was extremely professional and prompt to forward our case to the case worker.

Once forwarded, our Case Worker immediately reached out to me to help and begin the Medicaid process. She was extremely professional and was able to answer any questions or concerns that my mom and I had. She was able to guide us through the application and all documents that were needed. This resulted in my father receiving Medicaid benefits.

These benefits were and still remain to be the key to my mom's independence. If it were not for SPS my mom would have an extremely difficult financial burden and would not be able to remain independent. And as her daughter, I am so proud to have my 83-year-old mother be able to handle daily tasks and to keep her small social circle. This is so important to my family and I.

I would like to thank Senior Planning Services again for all that you do and I would highly recommend your services to others.

Sincerely,
Diane Rudowich

I want to take this opportunity to thank Senior Planning Services for all the help you provided to get my mother, Helen Appezzato, qualified for Medicaid.

It became clear late last summer that my 97‐year‐old mother could no longer live on her own. Several surgeries and falls left her weak and vulnerable, though mentally, she was still sharp (she reads the newspaper cover to cover every day). Her financial resources were limited so I knew Medicaid was the avenue I needed to pursue. My family used Senior Planning about seven years ago when my aunt, Anna Urciuoli, was in the same situation. We were so impressed with the services Senior Planning provided then that I didn’t hesitate for a minute to contact you again.

I was equally impressed this time. The upfront cost is considerable, but worth every penny. To navigate the Medicaid process alone would have been daunting, to say the least, and it would have been a stressful, full‐time job. But my case worker, Shoshana Pries, could not have done a better job and been more helpful. She gave me clear instructions on exactly what information I needed to gather and kept me updated every step of the way on the status of the Medicaid application. She cut through all the red tape and got things done quickly and with the highest level of professionalism. In addition, she was always available to address my many questions and concerns. I can’t thank her enough for all she did. I could never have done this without her.

I suspect I will have more questions when the recertification process comes later this year. I know Shoshana will be to help with any concerns I have.

In closing, I can’t thank Senior Planning Services enough for all the help they gave me and would highly recommend them to anyone going through the Medicaid process. It’s stressful enough making the decision to transition a loved one into an assisted living facility or nursing home and dealing with all the issues that go along with that. Having Senior Planning be there with you every step of the way made things so much easier.

I would be happy to speak with other families should they have any questions or concerns about the services Senior Planning offers.
Thank you again for all you do! Your service is invaluable.

Sincerely,
John Appezzato

Our family wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank you for your hard work and persistence in aiding us in our Medicaid application for insurance with MassHealth for my mother. We were referred by the Business Office at Somerset Ridge and are so happy that we made the connection when we did.

We had a very complex application due to the passing of my father during Covid. That created many obstacles in our application process, and we would not have been successful if not for the direct help and expertise of Senior Planning Services Regional Manager, Shana Zeffren.

Shana was a wealth of knowledge and was a calming influence throughout, what can be, a very long a stressful process. She guided us through the process and kept us updated to ensure that we stayed on track for the approval. We, as a family, were very concerned mainly due to the complexity of our case but Shana assured us throughout and kept such a positive tone, that we remained optimistic.

Our case was approved, and we credit it all to the effort that Shana exhibited from start to finish. She was absolutely amazing to work with and we cannot recommend Shana and her team at Senior Planning Services more strongly.

If you have a loved one that needs state health insurance assistance, please do not hesitate and call Senior Planning Services as soon as possible. They were transparent, responsive and courteous throughout the entire application process. They keep you on track and in line for the approval and ID number. Thank you so much for all your help. It is sincerely appreciated!!

Sincerely,
Stephan A Cabral

I want to thank everyone at Senior Planning Services for completing my mother in law’s Medicaid application. My wife was battling stage 4 lung cancer and needless to say I didn’t have the time or inclination to handle this application.

Kelly Straile at the Waterview/Complete Care facility recommended your organization when I told her I might have difficulty getting everything done in a timely manner. At our initial meeting Director Abe Jankelovits was extremely helpful in directing us on gathering all the information. He was also very reassuring that the process would be successful.

I want to specially express my sincere appreciation to Rivka Davidson our case manager. She kept me updated with the on going progress and was helpful in providing guidance in securing the necessary information. She was aware and sensitive to my circumstances and her awareness of Medicaid spend down and asset protections saved us any penalty days being assessed by Medicaid.

Sincerely,
Guilbert McCarthy

I’m writing to thank you for the exceptional service your company provided meto help my mother obtain Medicaid coverage after her Long-Term Care Insurance ran out.

Nora Ramos, Director of Admissions at Apple Rehab Farmington Valley, suggested I contact your company to help me get my mother on Medicaid. I am so happy I took her advice, as the process was complicated, and I could not have done it without your help!

Once I started working with Senior Planning, I was assigned to my Case Manager, Tami Segall, who guided me every step of the way. Tami was very kind, patient, knowledgeable, and detail oriented.

Throughout the process, I had many questions and if there was something Tami wasn’t sure of, she went out of her way to find the right resource to get answers. She also kept me advised of anything I needed to focus on at particular times. With great fortitude she handled some complications with selling my mother’s home, including making calls and sending documents to my mother’s Reverse Montage company and HUD.

I always felt I was in good hands with Tami and your entire organization. I was especially pleased when you provided outside resources, such as a Notary who could come to the Nursing home and finding a realtor to list my mother’s house.

Working with Senior Panning Services was a great experience and very well worth the cost! I strongly recommend to anyone going through this transition to use Senior Planning Services.

Sincerely,
Nancy Segelstein

In 2018, my uncle suffered a stroke and lost the use of the right side of his body, limiting all his functionality. I choose Sunrise of Randolph for their quality of care and service to meet his needs plus the fact that they are a Medicaid-accepted facility.

Once I realized that my uncle’s funds could no longer cover his care, I reached out to SPS for assistance regarding the Medicaid application process. I work full time, and do not have the time or expertise needed to do this on my own.

Within that week, I met with an SPS representative who walked me through the process and steps necessary to obtain acceptance and approval into the Morris County, NJ Medicaid program. The meeting was over two hours, as the entire process is extremely complicated with many steps to understand. SPS took the time to ensure I understood the process and what was necessary to get this done.

I was then assigned my SPS Representative, Miriam Abramson, who contacted me immediately to start the application. Miriam took on every aspect of the case and communicated with me frequently to make sure I understood each step and where our case stood. I was genuinely concerned that my uncle would not qualify, but Miriam eased my concerns with her expertise and consistent communications. There is no way I could have done this on my own.

Within 4-5 months of our application to Medicaid, we received the acceptance letter. Once again, Miriam took the time to walk me through the acceptance details and next steps and addressed the many questions I had. I cannot emphasize the expertise and value that SPS provided, as I would have never been able to get through the Medicaid process without them.

Warm regards,
Valerie Heerwagen

With my mother’s passing on July 2, I wanted to thank you and the SPS team for all their tenacious help in getting Title 19 benefits approved. Although we only had 10 days of coverage before my mother passed, it gave my family great comfort to know that we had a longer-term plan in place as she continued to amaze all of us with her longevity. She set a family record at 94 ½ years!

The 2 plus years for this process, going back to Sara Mordowitz, was helpful in guiding our decision process along the way with potential nursing homes and other aid packages with the state of CT.

I would like to add special thanks to Miri for her patience and kind demeanor as we managed the last few months with the case worker. Her constant follow-up and transparency of the situation was very helpful.

At this time, I have no other follow-ups with SPS, but I could not end without a heartfelt thank you.

King regards,
Tom Leahy

I would like to thank Senior Planning Services for completing my mother’s application for Medicaid earlier this year. My mother had lived in an assisted living facility for several years. In March of 2020 she fell and broke her hip which then required hip replacement surgery. Unfortunately, I was led to believe she would return to assisted living and that she should continue to pay for that room as well as her room in the nursing/rehab section. My mother was never able to return to assisted living and her money was nearly gone due to paying for two rooms for many months. On top of that, she was in a facility that would not accept Medicaid patients.

I was able to move her to Royal of Westerly Nursing & Rehabilitation. I knew that reams of documents would be required and although I did keep all her records and meticulous notes I knew the Medicaid approval process would take more time than I could provide. I was told that it would take nearly a year for the approval due to the way the State of Rhode Island handles Medicaid applications. I was very happy to hear that Senior Planning Services could handle this process and I was happy to pay the fee.

My initial contact with SPS was in October of 2020 with Tammy Feiner, who then turned the account over to Aaron Hoberman. After that, my main contact person was Cara Goldstein. I believe my first contact with her was early November of 2020. In early 2021, someone at Royal of Westerly contacted me telling me that I needed to complete a huge packet of paperwork immediately or I would miss a Medicaid deadline and the process would need to be re‐started from the beginning. I was at work when I got that call and was in a panic, so I called Cara. She said she had gotten the same information and was already working on it. It turned out to me a simple matter of a new employee at Royal who did not understand the Medicaid process and Cara got everything back on track. By March 23, 2021, she was notifying me that Medicaid had approved my mother’s application!

Everyone should consider using Senior Planning Services for this process. Initially I thought I would have to provide copies of all of my mother’s financial documents for the past five years. Not only would I have had to pay someone to make those copies, but I would also have been exposing her personal financial information to the copying company. Fortunately, Cara was able to obtain this information directly from the banks and there was very little documentation that I had to provide to Senior Planning Services. Their fee is definitely money that is well spent.

Thank you.
Patricia A Northup

I would like to thank Senior Planning Services for assisting with the Medicaid application for my sister. Their services and expertise in the process made it a painless and simple undertaking.

My sister first went into Sunrise of Cresskill in 2017, somewhat prematurely for her age, but certainly needed for her medical and safety needs. She had a relatively nice nest egg with her 401K, but I knew that she would deplete her funds within her lifetime.

Sometime in 2018, I received a notice from Pat Migliori from Sunrise of an upcoming seminar about Senior Planning Services. I had heard that the Medicaid process was complicated and often arduous and thought it worth my while to attend. The representative was very informative and answered our questions with certainty. Since my sister had some time before her funds would be depleted, I kept the contact information for future use. After providing the representative with my information, SPS later called me for more information about when I thought their services would be needed. There was no pressure in giving a commitment to them and we agreed upon a future timeframe where they could follow-up. We calculated how long her current funds would support her needs and scheduled a follow-up date. They kept to their schedule and called me to set up an appointment to meet face to face with an official from Senior Planning.

I met with Abe Jankelovits in my home, and he explained the process in detail. He asked for my sister’s personal and financial information and used it to calculate the appropriate fee based on their expected work effort for their services. As their fee could be used in the drawdown of her remaining assets, I felt it was very reasonable since it would free me of the extensive work that needed to be done.

I was assigned to Shoshana Preis from SPS to prepare the necessary documentation needed in the lookback period. She performed all the work contacting my sister’s bank and brokerage company for the previous 5 years of statements. She only contacted me when there was additional information needed, such as documenting deposits that were not easily identifiable to her checking account and any large withdrawals.

If Medicaid required any additional information once the application was submitted, all I needed to do was provide Shoshana with a copy of Medicaid’s request, and she provided the additional details directly to Medicaid. I was thrilled to receive the Medicaid approval letter for my sister to receive benefits within two months of the initial application. It was truly a painless process for me, and I cannot quantify how much stress was removed from my life due to the experts at Senior Planning Services. I would highly recommend SPS to anyone needing their services. It was a joy to work with Shoshana who was so pleasant and only a phone call away when I had questions or needed her assistance.

Thank you again for your services.

Sincerely,
Maureen M

I would like to send a note to thank you and the staff at Senior Planning Services for all the help they provided me during the Medicaid process for my father. My father resides in a skilled nursing facility in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. During the past year his health declined where he was no longer able to remain with my mother at a local assisted living facility and so we made the move to skilled nursing. As my mother remains in the community the Medicaid process was a little more complicated. Laura, the admissions coordinator, referred me to Senior Planning Services and I am so grateful.

Initially I met with Aaron Hoberman to review the process and then we were assigned Rivka Cohen (an angel) as case manager. Rivka was wonderful, helping me through every step and making sure that everything that was submitted to the state was complete. The entire process was completed within 5 months, and they made sure that not only was my father approved, but that my mother was able to keep all the funds that she was entitled to.

One of my sisters completed that Medicaid application for her mother-in-law and it took her over a year to receive approval. The cost is worth every penny. Senior Planning Services is a wonderful company to work with and the individuals I worked with were amazing.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2022!!

Sincerely,
Gail Lagana

I am writing to thank you and your colleagues at Senior Planning Services for handling the Medicaid application for my mother.

Senior Planning was suggested to us by Jessica Messina, Business Manager of Brandywine Senior Living in Mahwah, NJ. After I obtained a Medicaid application and reviewed the requirements with the idea of doing the application myself. I quickly realized that the process was far too complicated and lengthy for me to do on my own. I am very pleased that we decided to engage Senior Planning Services to handle this for us.

Our case manager, Cassie Weiss, is professional, thorough, responsive, reassuring, and cheerful. She gets an A plus for the way she managed the process and for helping me stay calm throughout the process. I don’t know what I would have done without her.

I highly recommend Senior Planning Services.

Sincerely,
Holly Mones

I just want to say how thankful our family is for everyone at Senior planning services for getting the Medicaid approval for our mother.

Since my father died in November 2020 everything was left for me to do (pay mothers bills, cut the grass, take care of all the leaves in the fall, blow and shovel snow, take her to doctor appointments, try to keep her medicine straight, try to get people to help take care of mother). I started the Medicaid process myself while trying to work fulltime and take care of my own house and family it was very exhausting to say the least. Then mother fell and went to Ridge View eldercare, the lady in the office suggested contacting Senior Planning.

I am so glad she did. Judy Mincer at Senior planning was a God sent, it took so much pressure off me. I finely felt like I could breathe again. I would highly recommend Senior planning to anyone applying for Medicaid.

Sincerely,
Jack W

I don’t know what I would’ve done if it had not been for the help of Senior Planning Services. My mom had to go into a nursing home after an Assisted Living facility had taken most of her money and didn’t have long term nursing facilities for her. The nursing home recommended SPS and I’m happy that I used them. From the start, they told me what I could expect in terms of timeframe, and they anticipated questions Medicaid would have so they could be addressed without me going back and forth with the county. I had a dedicated advisor, Rivka Gross, who answered all my questions and was always available! We even spoke in the evenings! The whole process was a huge time-saver for me as I’m a full-time teacher and really didn’t have the time needed to deal with all these questions on my own.

The most difficult aspect was dealing with a refund owed to my mom by her former Assisted Living Facility. They “forgot” to process the refund of her security deposit and I was concerned this would jeopardize her Medicaid filing. Rivka was so knowledgeable and worked with a funeral home to ensure the check went directly into a funeral trust on my mom’s behalf. I’m so grateful to them for all their help.

Sincerely,
Dorothea Kominos

Caring for the needs of aging parents, especially those with declining health is no easy task for anyone. Add the challenge of navigating the NJ Medicaid requirements and application process and the risk level and burden on the family increases exponentially. Thankfully, after vetting multiple consultants I found Michael Steinberg and Rivka Gross of Senior Planning Services. Their professionalism, response time, attention to detail and empathic approach was extremely helpful to the point I'm convinced I could not have gotten my dad's affairs in order, found him a nursing home and gotten his Medicaid application approval without their guidance, hard work and compassionate support. If you are in the same boat I was in, I would strongly urge you to contact SPS directly.

Sincerely,
Timothy Burdge

Rachel was an incredible case manager, and we were fortunate to have her as she functioned as our family's lifeline throughout this incredibly complexed Monmouth County process. We bombarded her with our many family insecurity's and she handled each and every one with confidence and professionalism. Rachel hit the ground running when our original case manager took another position but to our family this difficult transition was seamless! We owe a world of gratitude to SPS and Rachel as she navigated through this cumbersome Medicaid county with the skill of a surgeon. We are very grateful to Rachel as she was the voice of reason throughout this successful venture.

Tom

We used the services of Senior Planning Services for the Medicaid application for my Mom. As it turned out to be a prolonged process, Tami was extremely professional and patient, until the final moment when the application was accepted. We could not have done this without their services. Additionally, Senior Planning Services was able to have Mom admitted to a nursing facility on a Medicaid pending basis.

Cheryl Moore

A much-needed service if you need to apply for Medicaid. Senior Planning Services does all of the leg work and addresses any questions you may have. This includes working with your bank for the five year look back. Without this service, I would not have been able to go the distance to get the coverage necessary to care for my aging parent. Thank you SPS!

Marlene Hall