She was placed in her present location to be near her son who recently died. Her other son lives many miles away in another state and has DPOA. He is agreeable to having her transferred but the nursing home we want to place her in requires a copy of her Medicare card which is nowhere to be found and the surviving son says there is nothing he can do. The patient is on Medicaid and has dementia and is unable to speak. She has been in several facilities over the past years and we have attempted to contact them all in hopes of finding the Medicare card to no avail. Her present facility did not require a copy of the card when she was admitted. We are so frustrated and seem to hit a brick wall every time we attempt to get an answer. We believe the surviving son (only child left) is the Payee Representative as well as DPOA but doesn't seem to comprehend some of the things he is able to do. Who has the authority to request an address change and a new Medicare card for a beneficiary? And how is this accomplished? Any helpful information is appreciated.
I manage my parents care from 3 states away. They are at the point when my visits do as much harm as good, reminds them of home, and away we go with the confusion etc.....Staff calls me about meds or any issues and I call staff to check in about every other day.
I thought about moving them near me but the logistics, insurance issues etc were daunting.
This is just one situation but I’ve been able to make it work.
The above post is all true, so be prepared for a mountain of paperwork and have something in place for the in between time. I found out the hard way that Medicare replacement plans end at the county line. You do not want to get stuck paying out of pocket for nursing home, they are extremely expensive.
Please think long and hard about this move, for her benefit.