Healthcare Hero Jerome Solkoff, Esq. Is Honored by the Florida Assisted Living Coalition (FALC)

This April the Florida Assisted Living Coalition (FALC) honored Jerome Ira Solkoff, Esq. with the FALC Icon Award. FALC honors a distinguished Healthcare Hero who in some profound way helps shape his or her professional community with significant contributions made to the healthcare industry. Jerry Solkoff is currently “of counsel” to Solkoff Legal in Delray Beach, Florida and a prominent attorney with more than 40 years in practice, as well as a national expert in the field of Elder Law.

 

Jerry Solkoff moved to Florida from his native Rochester, New York in 1973 and started his own law firm in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The law firm drew many elderly clients and Jerry discovered that he wasn’t meeting their estate and health planning needs. Jerry found that an Elder Law practice provided many of the answers to their needs.

 

Jerry recalls, “Outside of children, the elderly are the most overlooked group, vulnerable to family and money problems and constantly feeling insecure by cutbacks in Medicare and Medicaid. They need a lot of services and often additional help.”

 

Solkoff eventually authored a two-volume book in 1996 – Florida Elder Law published by Thomson West Reuters. Along with his National Elder Law Forms Manual, the two books are the chief desk references for attorneys and both are updated annually. Since 2007, those books have been co-authored with his son, Scott M. Solkoff, an Elder Law attorney and founding partner of Solkoff Legal in Delray Beach, Florida.

 

The highlights of Jerry’s long career are also court landmarks that powerfully shaped the landscape of the legal health care rights of Florida’s elderly, their access to increased Medicare and Medicaid services, powers of attorney and other legal areas too numerous to mention. Some of Jerry’s remarkable achievements include:

 

He campaigned before the Bar’s Board of Governors and he helped compile a 300 signature petition to get the Board’s approval of the Section. He served as its Chair in 1992-93 and has served on its Board of Directors and Committees. Jerry later achieved Certified Elder Law Attorney status by both the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and The Florida Bar. He also served as Chair of the Section’s certification committee, writing the exams for attorneys to become Certified practitioners in that field.

 

In 1996 Jerry was one of the attorneys instrumental in founding this professional association of attorneys dedicated to improving the quality of legal services provided to the elderly, as an adjunct to the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). Scott Solkoff, Jerry’s son created the annual AFELA Elder Concert, a one-day multidisciplinary conference of elder care professionals from across Florida who have led the way in collaborative elder care. The Concert brings together leading decision makers in the Florida elder care community, including gerontologists, care managers, professional guardians, elder law attorneys, social workers and facility administrators.

 

Along with colleagues, he helped lobby the Florida State Legislature to get the Florida Living Will law passed, despite the governor’s veto. He also helped formulate the Health Care Designation Act so that a person may name anyone to have a proxy to make health care decisions when persons cannot do so for themselves.

This deed gives the elderly the advantage of avoiding probate while being able to name someone to take title of their property after their death and still maintain control of the property while they are alive. No beneficiary can get ownership until after the person’s death and the person during their lifetime could change the deed.

 

Together with four other attorneys, Jerry was successful in convincing the Florida Department of Children and Families, the Medicaid Agency, to cover in-home care and assisted living care for the elderly, as a less expensive alternative to nursing home care. The State gained with substantial savings.

 

Jerry helped to found this committee to promote better care for Alzheimer’s patients across Florida and served as its president. In addition, he is a past executive board member of the Alzheimer’s Association Southeast Florida Chapter.

 

These are just some of the achievements that demonstrate how Jerry Solkoff’s lifelong work has been impacting the lives of Florida’s elderly for decades. His frequent lectures, his writings, interviews and citations in legal publications and news media nationwide have earned him recognition as an Elder Law expert. Apart from the FALC ICON Award, his work has earned numerous honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, given by the Florida Bar Association Elder Law Section.

 

Jerry Solkoff feels tremendously rewarded by a lifetime of work helping the elderly, rendering much on a pro bono basis. “I think I’ve gotten far more out of it than I put into it. I have been so fortunate to have the support of my wife of 49 years, Doreen, my son, Scott, my daughter, Anne Weinstein and our four grandchildren who have made all of this worthwhile”.