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Health and Elder Law Glossary

Trying to decipher an acronym? Attempting to understand legal jargon? The Health and Elder Law glossary gives you access to definitions for the Health and Elder legal terminology commonly used in, documents, and court proceedings. This Health and Elder Law glossary will help you understand the legal terms and phrases which are relevant to insurance issues, medical malpractice, and other areas of Health and Elder Law.

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  • Accident Insurance
    : insurance against loss to the insured through accidental bodily injury
  • Advance Directive
    : a document (as a living will or durable power of attorney) in which a person expresses his or her wishes regarding medical treatment in the event of incapacitation
  • Average Daily Wage (Adw)
    The ADW is a calculation of an injured employee's average daily earnings and is sometimes used to determine entitlement to wage loss benefits following an injury, particularly where the AWW would not ...
  • Average Weekly Wage (Aww)
    The AWW is another method which may be utilized in calculating entitlement to wage loss benefits. The average earnings, by week, for a fixed period of time are calculated and wage loss benefits are ...
  • Death Certificate
    : a document setting forth information (as age, occupation, and place of birth) relating to a dead person and including a doctor's certification of the cause of death NOTE: Death certificates are ...
  • Disability
    pl: -ties 1 : inability to pursue an occupation because of a physical or mental impairment ;specif : inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a medically determinable ...
  • Durable Power Of Attorney
    see power of attorney
  • Euthanasia
    : the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured persons in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy called also mercy killing ...
  • Fiduciary
    pl: -ries : one often in a position of authority who obligates himself or herself to act on behalf of another (as in managing money or property) and assumes a duty to act in good faith and with care, ...
  • Guardianship
    A legal arrangement under which one person (a guardian) has the legal right and duty to care for another (the ward) and his or her property. A guardianship is established because of the ward's ...
  • Incompetent
    1 : not legally qualified: as a : lacking legal capacity (as because of age or mental deficiency) b : incapable due to mental or physical condition compare competent c : lacking authority, power, ...
  • Independent Medical Examination (Ime)
    In many situations, an employer and insurance company will want to have an injured employee seen by a particular physician in order to obtain on objective evaluation of the employee's health. An ...
  • Living Will
    : a document in which the signer indicates preferences or directions for the administration and esp. the withdrawal or withholding of life-sustaining medical treatment in the event of terminal ...
  • Long-Term Care
    Long-term care insurance (LTC insurance) provides health insurance for extended periods of time, covering expenses that many private insurance policies, Medicaid and Medicare do not cover.
  • Means-Tested Public Benefits
    Assistance from a government unit. Benefits include food stamps, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and State Child Health Insurance Program ...
  • Medicaid
    often cap : a program of medical aid designed for those unable to afford regular medical care and financed by the state and federal governments
  • Medicare (Health Insurance For The Aged Act)
    A federal act to provide hospital and medical insurance for the aged under the Social Security Act.
  • Mercy Killing
    : euthanasia
  • Patients' Rights
    A general statement adopted by most healthcare providers, covering such matters as access to care, patient dignity, confidentiality and consent to treatment.
  • Permanent Partial Disability (Ppd)
    PPD benefits are payable, in most jurisdictions, to an employee who has sustained a permanent, but not complete, disability. Many state statutes have pre-set values for a host of different PPD ...
  • Permanent Total Disability (Ptd)
    PTD benefits are available if an injured employee is permanently and totally disabled from work.
  • Physical Therapy (Pt)
    Many injured employees are entitled to receive physical therapy as a form of medical treatment to recover from injuries. On forms, or in medical records, you may see a reference to "PT." That is short ...
  • Social Security Disability Benefits (Ssdi)
    SSDI benefits are payable to disabled individuals through the Social Security Administration. Many state workers' compensation statutes have specific provisions which dictate whether an injured ...
  • Statewide Average Weekly Wage (Saww)
    The statewide average weekly wage is a computation of average wages paid to workers in a jurisdiction for a set period of time and is generally used to calculate the minimum, and maximum, amounts of ...
  • Temporary Partial Disability (Tpd)
    TPD benefits are payable when an injured employee is able to work despite their injury. The benefits are available only for a limited period of time, in recognition of the fact that the employee will ...
  • Temporary Total Disability (Ttd)
    TTD benefits are available to employees whose injuries leave them totally unable to work for a period of time. The benefits are no longer payable when the "temporary" disability clears and the ...
  • Vocational Rehabilitation (Vr)
    Vocational rehabilitation generally includes a melting pot of services that are offered to injured employees to help them return to work following a work injury. VR may involve transferable skills ...