Live in TX, Mom's savings are about gone. I signed her in to nursing home in a hurry, don't recall everything I signed and now am worried that I might be responsible for any expenses after her death.
I just emailed the financial mgr at NH to see if he can find out if I signed
anything making me liable for future expenses. Said he will check with Admissions, cause when I asked Admissions a month or so ago, she said
everything was sent to Corporate and that I don't need to be concerned.
Also, this facility says they normally don't take Medicaid pending patients,
but I told them I asked when I first moved her in and they told me they would,
so they are going to make an exception since she has been private paying since last April, but want $10K which will not be refunded. Besides she can only show
$60 a month in her account once she applies.
It's been very frustrating trying to get everything taken care of. I have tried talking to someone at the Medicaid office, no luck whatsoever, they basically tell me to fill out the application but give me no other detailed advice. If you can't get it from them, then I don't know who else should know as much. I even tried calling the Aging and Disability organization and all they have is a recording to leave a message. It is totally ridiculous to me as to how difficult and complicated it is to be able to get correct answers. I did talk briefly about it to a lawyer that I used to prepare a form for me and she said to call Ombudsman, which I did. I've called a few other nursing homes and unless I put her in a really ugly one on the other side of town, it seems most want some type of deposit.
Finance Mgr, he said he had to ask her for it. I was given the run around
which I thought was very odd. After going back and forth for a week, I finally
got the Finance Mgr to tell me they can't find the paperwork, then asked if
I signed paperwork. I told him of course I did and that I doubt that they would let my mom be admitted without signing the paperwork. He said I can come in
and sign some new paperwork or have my mom sign it so that I will not be held responsible for any costs that might occur.
I don't trust them and I have no idea, if something were to come up that they won't all of a sudden find the original signed documents!
The point is they lied to me when I admitted mom and told me she can stay once her private funds run out, when in reality they don't want any Medicaid
patients in their facility. I don't like the idea of putting down $10K. For all I know
they will tell me in the end that they have no Medicaid beds available.
So now, at the very last minute, I am trying to get her into a nursing home
that does accept Medicaid pending, but they won't do anything until they
have detailed clinical info from the current nursing home. I am in the process
of getting that taken care of. It's very frustrating and I still don't know exactly
how this will work out with the new nursing home until after they approve her
medical condition for admittance first.
All I can say, is what a pain in the behind this is. It is so complicated and
frustrating. I am praying they will admit her without any other unusual
road blocks. They only have one bed left and I have looked at others in
the past, but don't like too many of these nursing homes.
I am disappointed that I will have to take my mom out of her current home.
I DID NOT want to have to do that to her! I can't believe how inept some
of these nursing homes can be, especially since they are supposed to be
regulated.
Try to find clearly out in writing whose funds NH is requiring $ from.
Does NH show that it takes Medicare & Medicaid on its website or state licensing paperwork? Area on aging office in SA has details on NH all over SA. AoA is on 410 by broadway. IRS is in the same building.
Also imho AoA for Tx are very well funded with solid staff but AoA ombudsman program is pretty much a paper tiger in dealing with NH as they have no enforcement ability...more of we can ask the NH on behalf of the residents ability but cannot require an action to be done. NH lobbyists in TX have been able to really limit outside non-industry involvement in accountability. The whole concept of Nh having residents councils to deal with problems or issues is ludicrous imho
I don't know about your area, but in AZ there are several assisted living homes which are less expensive and even cheaper are group homes (where multiple residents occupy a regular home that is supervised and where assistance is provided). You may want to look into one of these if your mom only requires assistance and supervision.
Lastly, never sign anything from a nursing home without reading it completely and understanding it. This could be a very expensive and ongoing mistake if you took personal responsibility.
To Everyone else that has responded to my question, I am in the process of
looking at another nursing home to move her to that will accept Medicaid
pending. I feel its the best thing to do since I am not comfortable with what
this nursing home is asking us to do regarding the $10K down.
I pray after going through all this, that it will work out the way it should.
The two nursing homes I talked to didn't ask for any type of deposit
down. Hopefully they won't come up with that later. I specifically asked
them if they need anything else and they both said no. So, we shall see.
this and hope by the end of this week I will have this behind me! It seems most nursing homes squawk at taking a Medicaid pending patient, which to me was a real surprise. I don't know what people are gong to do in the future if they don't qualify or have to go from private pay to Medicaid pending.