As residents of Connecticut get older, there are many facets of elder care planning that must be confronted: estate planning, medical costs and long-term care planning. However, while many of these factors can be handled with relative speed and dedication by an experienced elder care attorney, there are some parts of the process that are dependent on the government to act.

One crucial component of elder care planning is Medicaid planning. While the actual planning aspect can be done privately, the actual application process--and the processing of those applications--is dependent on the state of Connecticut and its handle everything in a timely manner. Unfortunately, it would appear this has not been the case, according to a federal class action lawsuit filed earlier this month.

According to the lawsuit, the state Department of Social Services is at fault for not employing enough workers to do the job. In fact, the approval process has slowed to the point that a majority of cases by the end of November had already exceeded federal time limits. The lawsuit claims that about 5,000 residents of Connecticut have had their applications extend past the 45-day time period that is normally sufficient for processing.

State officials acknowledge that they have suffered through major staff cuts at the same time that monthly Medicaid caseloads rose by almost 20 percent. Officials have also blamed outdated technology for the increasing backlog.

These conditions show the need for taking care of elder care planning sooner rather than later. With the increasing budget crunch, there are no guarantees that Medicaid planning will get better in the foreseeable future.

Source: The Connecticut Mirror, "Lawsuit: DSS understaffing produces illegal delays for Medicaid applicants," Arielle Levin Becker, Jan. 9, 2012