The agreement establishes the basic contract for care and payment: the nursing home promises to provide care, and the resident promises to pay for it. The agreement can be signed by the resident or can be signed on her behalf by her trustee, often a family member. However, the nursing home often asks the family member to sign the agreement as well as a “responsible party.” In this way, the family member becomes a party to the contract with the retirement home and assumes explicit and personal contractual obligations. In short, you are now “on the hook” for payments. As a general rule, the responsible party promises: 1) to spend all of the resident`s assets (which the responsible party controls or can access) for the resident`s care; 2) Conduct appropriate and timely issuance of assets in anticipation of potential Medicaid benefits; 3) immediately qualify the resident for Medicaid once the assets are exhausted; and (4) spend all goods that the responsible party has already received from the resident for the resident`s care. 1. DO NOT sign an admission contract before admission or immediately after admission. Wait at least a week or two for time to evaluate care. If care is poor or you have been pressured to go to a particular facility and are not satisfied in the first few days or weeks, NEVER sign the intake agreement. To be fair to nursing homes, they have the right to be paid and they often have difficulty collecting legitimate debts. Institutions are prohibited from taking legal action to take a resident`s social security or pension income.
They must comply with strict federal restrictions on consumer protection. Despite these payment barriers, they must protect fragile and vulnerable people from all kinds of damage. They also suffer from public hostility, thanks to the misconduct of certain bad actors. We continue to push for collaboration with nursing home staff where possible, as their work is challenging. Below are other provisions to look for in a nursing home accommodation agreement. A nursing home may try to get you to sign the agreement as a “responsible party.” It is very important that you do not agree with this. Nursing homes are prohibited from requiring third parties to guarantee payment of nursing home bills, but many try to get family members to voluntarily agree to pay the bills. Finally, any provision that relieves the nursing home of any liability for the loss or theft of personal belongings is illegal.
It is also illegal for them to waive any responsibility for the resident`s health. Another common issue in nursing home agreements is the future eligibility of Medicaid to pay for expenses. Due to the high cost of care, residents who are not eligible for Medicaid at entry are often eligible later. A single person is usually eligible if they have less than $2,000 in resources. A married person can often be eligible for many more resources if their spouse is not also in a nursing home. Some agreements try to get residents to give up their Medicaid rights or promise that they won`t apply for Medicaid. Such provisions are illegal under federal law and cannot be enforced. The day your loved one enters a care facility is not a big day. Aside from your own emotional distress, you will valiantly try to let your loved one know that you are going to stay and defend their needs. One of the biggest lies each of us has ever told is to check the “I read the terms and conditions” box on literally anything that has to do with technology or that is online. It`s easy, of course, isn`t it? Just click “Accept” and you`re done.
No waiting, no problem, no nothing. It`s done. Unfortunately, real life is not like that at all, and if we agree with something of any kind, there are usually pages and pages of things we need to read before we can actually agree. After all, we want to know that we understand exactly what we can expect from anything. This is especially true in the area of health care and care for our elderly parents. In particular, we will look at how to understand a hosting agreement for a nursing home. Many nursing home hosting agreements include a provision that all disputes regarding the resident`s care will be resolved through arbitration. An arbitration clause is not illegal, but by signing it, you waive your right to go to court to resolve a dispute with the institution. The nursing home cannot require you to sign an arbitration clause, and you must cross out the wording of the arbitration before signing. While this story has been slightly altered by cases we`ve encountered in the past, and while the majority of Connecticut foster care facilities would never conduct their admissions process this way, the sad truth is that Robert`s experience is not uncommon. Under the law, the nursing home cannot authorize the eviction of a resident for reasons other than the following: the courts have even expanded the contractual responsibility to impose responsible party status on family members.
In a case in Connecticut where the son signed as a trustee under the authority of the parent but did not sign as a responsible party, the court still ruled that the son had entered into an oral contract with the nursing home because he remained silent after the nursing home explained to him the obligations of a responsible party. Connecticut courts have also not hesitated to hold parties personally liable for the cost of care if they failed to immediately and correctly qualify a resident for Medicaid benefits. There is also Connecticut case law that supports a lawsuit filed by a nursing home against a family member who received assets from the resident prior to admission. .