I admitted my mother under stressful and a hurried condition, I was asked by the Admissions Rep to sign all the paperwork, I did not sit there and read it all because I wanted to get back to my mother. I just went by what she told me the forms were. I am my mom's POA and now that she is about out of private funds to pay them with, I am worried there might be some expenses I will be held liable for.
If I find out that I did sign something holding me responsible for any charges not covered while she transitions to Medicaid, will it be possible for me to tell them I do not agree with the form I signed and I want it discarded?
There's a presumption that execution of a document is done with informed consent. If you were hurried, you might not have taken the time, or been too stressed, to sign with informed consent, presumably after asking the appropriate questions.
If you signed under duress since you were worried about your mother, that might be an argument as well.
Another would be that you simply didn't realize the implications of signing without adding your POA designation.
You might state to the Admins that you realized you signed inappropriately and need to have an amendatory document, one that states that all the listed documents (and itemize them) are amended to reflect that you were/are signing as DPOA and not individually.
This might be a good question for one of the resident legal experts. You can contact the admins and ask for this at:
https://www.agingcare.com/contactus.aspx
I don't think telling anyone at this stage that you don't agree with the terms of any documents and want it discarded would get you anywhere; the response would probably be that if you didn't agree, you shouldn't have signed it.
I think duress is a better argument.
BTW, have you applied for Medicaid yet?
I bet this requirement & demand is not allowed by Medicaid.
Something about this whole situation sounds wrong.
Just like a NH cannot require that their monthly income source (like their SS & retirement monthly checks) be sent to the NH directly.
Do you have a copy of all admissions paperwork? If not, I would suggest that you get a friend to be with you and you go early tomorrow to the NH and ask for a copy of all pages of all the admissions documents. BTW they can charge you a copy fee but they cannot charge you a research or staff fee for searching.
So what happens if it's 3 mos or 6 mos and mom's application is still being processed. Another 10K? or more?
Do you know what path is done for Medicaid applications for your state?
Like is your state set up that the Medicaid application and supporting documents are done by family or DPOA at the NH and then the NH takes all these and send it along with their bill and paperwork to the state Medicaid program? (this was the system I went through in TX with my mom). Or will mom apply to Medicaid on her own (or you will do) directly with a caseworker of the state's Medicaid program? If its the former, just how will you know that the NH has sent the applications & all documentation to the state and it is actually being processed?
The whole "we are making an exception for you" sounds totally bogus to me. A facility that takes Medicaid cannot make exceptions. They have to participate in the program under Medicaid rules. Now they can have a waiting list for beds that residents get placed from. But this just doesn't sound like that is what they are basically demanding of a residents family.
About the 10K will they be drawing from it to pay mom;s monthly after February? So what happens when the 10 is gone? When mom gets eligible for Medicaid, do they repay you the 10K with interest?
btw the feds require that their personal needs allowance be placed in an interest bearing account (yeah its pennies but still….) so there is no reason why they cannot pay you interest on 10large.
Did you go to see other NH's? If not, I know it can be hard to do but really I'd go and find 2 that currently have open Medicaid beds and ask what the system is for mom to move in and become a Medicaid Pending resident. I would not mention the current NH at all. If what you hear and see in their paperwork is dramatically different from where mom is now, think about moving her into another NH. Unless they are totally bedridden & qualifying for hospice, most elderly are still pretty tough old birds and amazingly resilient to changes. You'd be surprised. A Nh can easily be 5K - 15K a month. If something goes amiss in all this, it's a huge sum that you could be responsible for unless you personally have oodles of money both for your own living expenses and retirement so that mom's costs of care are not a pinch in your purse ever.
"Longer than we'd like, but it depends on the state where you live and their backlog. Expect at least a month and maybe as long as three months. You can call for updates, however, and to make sure no more documentation is needed.
Take care,
Carol"
My point is that failure to pay is one reason nursing homes can evict people. Does this nursing home accept Medicare but not Medicaid?
The Admissions Rep's job is to get you to sign those papers and *voluntarily* agree to pay the bills. Nursing home admission agreements frequently contain an arbitration clause stating that all disputes regarding the resident's care will be decided through arbitration. Did the paperwork include this clause?
A nursing home cannot force a resident to leave if the resident is waiting to get Medicaid AND the facility did NOT provide notice that they do NOT accept Medicaid. Look over what you signed. You may have more than one avenue to pursue.
I just wanted to say - don't beat yourself up for signing paperwork without reading or fully understanding it. Who hasn't done that on one occasion or another? When I admitted my mom into a NH I was towards the end of almost three months of sheer h*ll in trying to deal with her. I was beyond relieved that I found a really nice place and we had actually managed to get her packed and in the car! Frankly, I would have signed away a kidney if it meant getting mom in - and worried about the transplant date later. Good luck, I hope this works out alright for you and your mom.
someone in the Aging and Disability Dept the other day and they said they never heard of the $10K, but then again some nursing homes required one thing or another and we don't have much choice.
When I moved her in, I told them I wanted to keep her there on Medicaid after her money ran out and I was told that would be okay, now they tell me they really don't take Medicaid pending but are gong to do me a favor, after talking to Corporate, and will accept mom as Medicaid pending if we give them the $10K. It all seems confusing to me. It seems I can only hope things will work out, because if they don't, there will be NO money left to place her in another nursing home while on Medicaid pending. Almost all NH will not accept a Medicaid pending patient unless you give them money upfront.
See All Answers