THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, December 6, 2019 Page 21 FINE-TUNE | FROM PAGE 3 ing an applicant for the fifth retail license until the right candidate arrived, or whether they should move ahead and open a second round of applications to the general public. And that decision is complicated by the fact that at least two of the applicants approved by the commission have faced serious pushback from neighbors during the community outreach meetings which are the second step in the licensing process. Residents who live near MassMedicum’s proposed retail business on Broadway are appalled that the owner, Dr. James Kurnick, chose a site in a densely populated neighborhood across the street from a daycare center. Misty Mountain owner Eric Garth faces a similar reaction from residents who live near his proposed site on Commercial Street. Misty Mountain opponents launched an online petition asking the Cannabis Licensing and Enforcement Commission to deny Garth’s application because marijuana risks the health of adolescents and the business could potentially increase crime and traffic while decreasing property values. Those reactions have led Cannabis Licensing and Enforcement Commission Chairman Ron Hogan to repeatedly remind commission members that the licensing process is fluid. The pursuit of a local retail license could end for one or more of the applicants during the next step in the process, a public hearing for a special permit granted by the City Council. If that happens, several of the city’s five licenses may be available again to new and second-time applicants, including those who meet the criteria for preference. Commission members agreed that they should meet with the City Council to discuss the fifth license and other parts of the city’s cannabis licensing ordinance that are making it confusing or difficult to bring the retail cannabis industry to Malden. Zoning regulations call for a 75-foot buffer zone between a cannabis business and private homes and churches; Building Commission Nelson Miller wanted to make sure that daycare centers have the same buffers. But commission members also agreed that buffer zones were too restrictive and made it difficult to allow a legal industry with layers of security get off the ground. “The law is the law,” said Molis. “I would feel bad telling someone they were ineligible based on an irrational fear.” There were other aspects of the cannabis ordinance that commission members felt needed more detail, such as the prohibition against changes in ownership and the requirement that marijuana businesses be geographically diverse when the areas of the city where they are allowed is so tightly concentrated. For Hogan, the challenge of licensing cannabis businesses under the ordinance is due partly to the fact that the rules and the process were created from scratch. “We need to look at what we have learned, and how things should change,” he said, adding that he would develop a presentation for a discussion with the City Council. “We’re well into this process and we need some guidance to see why it does and doesn’t work,” he said. ~ LEGAL NOTICE ~ COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS THE TRIAL COURT PROBATE AND FAMILY COURT Middlesex Divison Docket No. MI19P6080EA Estate of: Kathleen A. Berner Date of Death: November 10, 2019 INFORMAL PROBATE PUBLICATION NOTICE To all persons interested in the above captioned estate, by Petition of Petitioner Lisa A. Larcom of Danvers, MA and Petitioner Suzanne M. Berner of Chelsea, MA. Petitioner Lisa A. Larcom of Danvers, MA and Petitioner Suzanne M. Berner of Chelsea, MA. has been infomally appointed as the Personal Representative of the estate to serve without surety on the bond. The estate is being administered under informal procedure by the Personal Representative under the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code without supervision by the Court. Inventory and accounts are not required to be filed with the Court, but interested parties are entitled to notice regarding the administration from the Personal Representative and can petition the Court in any matter relating to the estate, including distribution of assets and expenses of administration. Interested parties are entitled to petition the Court to institute formal proceedings and to obtain orders terminating or restricting the powers of Personal Representatives appointed under informal procedure. A copy of the Petition and Will, if any, can be obtained from the Petitioner. December 6, 2019 ~ Home of the Week ~ SAUGUS....Great opportunity to own this well maintained, Two Family home. First floor unit offers 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, full bath, laundry and french door leading to enclosed rear porch overlooking yard. Spacious second floor unit offers 2 levels of living, featuring open concept kitchen with island, dining room, living room with pellet stove, 4 bedrooms (2 without closets), laundry and full bath. Entertainment size deck, level, oversized lot with above ground pool, storage sheds and plenty of off street parking. Nicely located in desirable East Saugus neighborhood. Offered at $575,000 335 Central Street, Saugus, MA 01906 (781) 233-7300 View the interior of this home right on your smartphone. View all our listings at: CarpenitoRealEstate.com Preserving Your Rights With Filing Of Appeal W hen filing for a MassHealth application for either long-term nursing home benefits or for community MassHealth benefits, more often than not, a denial letter will follow after the first Request for Information is sent out to the applicant’s representative. It is important to file for an appeal with the Board of Hearings within the time period allowed by law. When you file a MassHealth application, benefits can be paid retroactively as far as the first day of the third month “prior” to the date of submission of the application. It is important to have MassHealth held by the original application date and the original date that benefits are requested, as the applicant may have no more funds available with which to pay the nursing home or for caregiving expenses while at home. If an applicant receives a denial letter due to missing information and subsequently submits the missing information within the 30-day time period allowed, MassHealth treats that as if there was a new application thereby creating a new application date. This has the effect of delaying the start date of MassHealth benefits by pushing the start date out further than what the applicant was initially asking for. As an example, assume that an application was submitted on December 1, 2019 asking for an effective date of benefits of September 1, 2019. Medicare may have stopped paying benefits for someone in rehab, for example, as the care being provided to the individual was no longer considered rehabilitative, but rather custodial in nature only. Further assume that a Denial notice is received on February 1, 2020 as a result of missing information. If the applicant submits the information on February 25, 2020 without filing for an appeal, a new application is deemed to exist and MassHealth will only pay retroactive benefits back to November 1, 2019. There would be two months of care that the family would have to private pay for. Also, the treatment of previously-paid medical expenses can be affected by the timing of the MassHealth application. Medical expenses that are less than 90 days in the past are allowed as part of the spenddown process whenever they are paid, but if those expenses precede the MassHealth application by more than 90 days, then a different rule may apply. Filing for an appeal preserves the original application date. Of course, the appeal has to be successful. An appeal can always be withdrawn by calling the Board of Appeals if the application is subsequently approved prior to the hearing date. The key is to not miss the appeal deadline. The Board of Hearings won’t give the applicant any slack. However, good old MassHealth can take as long as it wants to conduct the hearing itself, although federal guidelines dictate that MassHealth make a decision on the appeal within 45 days of the filing of the appeal. I had a case recently where we waited over one year for the hearing date. Fortunately, we were successful on the appeal. The nursing home had to wait over a year to get paid by MassHealth. And that’s just for one resident. That could be a good $100,000 of needed cash flow to support its operations. Joseph D. Cataldo is an estate planning/elder law attorney, Certified Public Accountant, registered investment advisor, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a masters degree in taxation.
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