WHO’s WHO: Healthcare Law

Published in Long Island Business News Special Section June 2021

Jennifer B. Cona is the founder and managing partner of Cona Elder Law PLLC in Melville. In practice for more than two de-cades, Cona Elder Law offers unsurpassed advocacy in health-care reimbursement and recovery, elder law, litigation and col-lections. Representing over 200 skilled nursing facilities, CCRCs and assisted living facilities throughout New York State and New Jersey, Cona Elder Law is a preeminent law firm in this practice area.

Cona’s practice focuses on both healthcare facility representation, including complex Medicaid eligibility matters, guardianships, Fair Hearings, and litigation, as well as representing older adults with the preservation of assets, Medicaid planning, estate planning, wealth transfer strategies, administration of estates, estate litigation, contested guardianships and special needs planning. Under Cona’s guidance, the firm works to secure and ensure a payment source for long term healthcare, working together with both families and healthcare facilities to sustain quality care for older adults.

The pandemic has decimated the skilled nursing facility (SNF) in-dustry, Cona said. “The elderly population was hardest hit by the pandemic, as we know,” she said. “But the SNF industry-wide effects will be felt for years to come.”

“SNFs typically have a vacancy rate of 5-7 percent,” Cona said. “Currently, SNFs are experiencing a vacancy rate of over 21 percent. This is due not only to the large number of deaths during the height of the pandemic but fear on the part of families to place loved ones in an SNF.” “Add to this the recently passed legislation (awaiting Gov. Cuomo’s signature) mandating minimum staffing levels in nursing homes but without concomitant adequate funding to hire additional staff and we could well see SNFs closing just when our aging population needs them most,” Cona noted.

Cona has been featured in both local and national media and is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards for her business acumen and commitment to the community. Cona is recognized by Best Lawyers in America© and is rated a Super Lawyer. She was named in the inaugural class of the New York Law Journal’s Top Women in Law. She was also named in the inaugural class of Hofstra’s Outstanding Women in Law, was rated a Top 10 Legal Eagle on Long Island, has received the Brava Smart CEO award and has received Star Network’s Power Women in Business award.

She is chair of the Board of Trustees of the Long Island Alzheimer’s and Dementia (LIAD) Center. She is founder and chair of the Advanced Elder Law Focus Group, an industry think-tank. Cona is a New York State Certified Guardian, Court Evaluator and Counsel to incapacitated persons and is ac-credited by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the preparation, presentation and prosecution of claims for Veterans benefits. Cona is also a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Elder Law and Trusts and Estates Sections of the New York State Bar Association, the Nassau County Bar Association, the Suffolk County Bar Association and the Estate Planning Council of Nassau County.

Cona Elder Law PLLC is an award-winning elder law and healthcare law firm. Healthcare facilities turn to Cona Elder Law for innovative strategies and cut-ting-edge solutions regarding complex Medicaid eligibility matters, guardianship proceedings, PRUCOL matters, collections, litigation, and other matters related to resident financial accounts and the facility’s bottom line. The firm has earned many recognitions, including the Business Achievement Award from the Hauppauge Industrial Association.