Father in law has been in nursing home for 7 years, his physical condition is advanced Alzheimer’s. He is restricted to the bed and cannot speak or attend to himself. When his wife, my mother in law, had to go into the nursing home it created a problem with Medicaid. Long story short, the facility is evicting him due to non-payment from Medicaid or not enough payment from Medicaid. They are telling me they are going to drop him off at my place of business because we are the only known family they can find. Can they do this? My wife and I do not have any power of attorney over him (his wife is the only one able to sign for him) but we are listed as the point of contact. They tell us because we are the point of contact he will be transported to the front door where I work and leave him. The people telling me this are from the nursing home, they are very rude and call all hours of the day and night demanding money. Because we are in personal bankruptcy we cannot hire an attorney at this time. Any suggestions?
Make sure that so you have a record when you go to sue them for harrassment that you document conversations, time, date etc
If you have an answering machine let them record their threats and calls on the machine. DONT talk to them everytime they call. Get a recorder and record the recordings on the answering machine in case they get erased. Also, keep a physical log ie spreadsheet of times, dates, what was said etc.
If you tell them you are hiring a lawyer they may stop. You can google pro bono lawyers (free lawyers) that will help you through this. You can also call Adult Protective Services and talk to them about it. They might have resources for you, maybe even a pro bono lawyer.
I hope this helps.
You need to do several things, first, call the home and tell them to send you a 30-day discharge notice. I don't know where you live, but once you get the discharge notice, you need to call your local Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. The Ombudsman is federally mandated advocates for residents in nursing homes. They can help you by talking to the nursing home about your rights and the rights of your loved one. There is no cost for their services.
Legally, a nursing home can NOT go after you for non-payment of a Medicaid resident. Even if the resident is not Medicaid, a family can Not be forced to pay their bill unless they agreed to do so upon admission.
You can also call the Adult Protection Agency (Elder Abuse Hotline) and tell them that the home is threatening to drop the resident off at your job. They can call the home and inform them of their responsibilities.
The fact that you are not the Power of Attorney is key. Since you don't have this, you legally can not make medical decisions for your loved ones. If your loved ones are unable to make medical decisions on their own and they don't have a Power of Attorney for Healthcare (is his wife competent enough to make the decisions for him), then the home has to get them a Guardian. Only the Guardian would be able to make decisions on where they will live. Nursing homes don't like to have to file for Guardianship - it costs them money.
I hope this helps!
negligent discharge should stop them cold. This is a terrible nasty thing to deal with. Ombudsman for long term care should be your first call. I couldn't get POA because the Nursing Home claimed he wasn't competent because he did not have a diagnosis when he was admitted, though they let him sign consent to treat and financial responsibility. Fight back and stay strong.
If you have links to real factual legislature changes to Medicare/Medicaid, please post. Not links to typical media outlets which are full of biases, and even out right lies.
I wish you the best of luck.
1. Call the Omnebudsman
2. Call your Congressman
This was your statement that triggered my first request for references:
"Then there doing away with Medicare." I would interpret "doing away with" as meaning discontinuing it entirely. I've seen articles on drastic cuts, but nothing about discontinuing Medicare.
I think you referenced Texas. If you are in Texas google TRLA (Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid). They are a non profit offering legal aid. They have offices as far north as Dallas. There is a lot of mention of immagration and migrant workers but they are representing residents in our area with hurricane related issues. They may be able to offer you some legal assistance.
You have been offered excellent advice above.
This may strictly a Medicaid issue.
My grandmothers Nursing Home was responsible for her Medicaid renewal each year. Suddenly I was getting unpaid bills for some hospital stays.
I went to Hospital billing office. The lady there after much confusion went to the Medicaid expert in the hospital. She called Medicaid and found out the Nursing Home had not done grandmothers Medicaid renewal. Panic.
My next stop was the Nursing Home Administrator. He finally admitted they dropped the ball on 18 Medicaid residents. My grandmothers Medicaid had lapsed for 5 months! No bill ever came for the Nursing Home. I guess they were scrambling to get it all straightened out. The Monkey was on the Nursing Homes back. They accepted all responsibility and ate any charges, Hospital charges included that Medicaid would not cover.
Could it be possible FILs Medicaid lapsed? Who normally did his renewal each year?
Due to the demand from the “guy” at the Nursing Home it sounds like they are in a state of panic. That’s what makes me wonder if the Nursing Home hasn’t dropped the Medicaid ball somehow.
For policy contact the office of your representatives, US congressmen to ask questions.
Rhetoric and unfounded perceptions do nothing to provide positive or helpful information.
So, Yuki, don't tell us to read something as unreliable as Wikipedia. If you claim that Medicare is going to be abolished, provide the specific USC citation for this. I'm not going to waste time searching based on rhetoric.
In addition, Yuki, this thread was begun by someone in need of assistance, and it's a valid need.
If you want to discuss Medicare cuts, start your own thread; don't hitchhike on someone else's very valid thread and redirect attention from someone in need of good advice.
But then again, so you should your local library.