Nursing homes slip forms into admit packages that opens up friends, relatives neighbors to lawsuits

[Demovictory9]

Nursing homes are suing friends and family to collect on patients' bills

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/07/28/1113134049/nursing-homes-are-suing-friends-and-family-to-collect-on-patients-bills

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Lucille Brooks was stunned when she picked up the phone before Christmas two years ago and learned a nursing home was suing her.

"I thought this was crazy," recalled Brooks, 74, a retiree who lives with her husband in a modest home in the Rochester suburbs. Brooks' brother had been a resident of the nursing home. But she had no control over his money or authority to make decisions for him. She wondered how she could be on the hook for his nearly $8,000 bill.

Brooks would learn she wasn't alone. Pursuing unpaid bills, nursing homes across this industrial city have been routinely suing not only residents but their friends and family, a KHN review of court records reveals. The practice has ensnared scores of children, grandchildren, neighbors, and others, many with nearly no financial ties to residents or legal responsibility for their debts.

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The nursing home industry has quietly developed what consumer attorneys and patient advocates say is a pernicious strategy of pursuing family and friends of patients despite federal law that was enacted to protect them from debt collection. "The level of aggression that nursing homes are using to collect unpaid debt is severely increasing," said Lisa Neeley, a Massachusetts elder law attorney.


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The legal strategy is often rooted in admissions agreements, the piles of paperwork that family or friends sometimes sign, not realizing the financial risks. "The world of nursing facilities is a black hole for most people," said Eric Carlson, a longtime consumer attorney at the nonprofit Justice in Aging. "This happens in the shadows."

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But consumer advocates say nursing homes slip the admissions agreements into papers that family members sign when an older parent or sick friend is admitted. Sometimes people are told they must sign, a violation of federal law. Sometimes there is barely any discussion. "They are given a stack of forms and told, 'Sign here, sign there. Click here, click there,'" said Miriam Sheline, managing attorney at Pro Seniors, a nonprofit law firm in Cincinnati.

[Meowmee]

1. They are all a scam for the most part

They frequently take people’s savings. For this they leave you wasting in your own feces getting pressure sores. They did that to my father who was in supposed rehab care, the hospital did it as well, they get away with murder as do the homes. I witnessed so much abuse and gross negligence. The hospice someone was trying to set up would have charged thousands to medicare and offered NO SERVICES except a weekly bath and maybe they might show up to drop off meds when you desperately need them at 2 am, but probably not.

[brooklynite]

10. As bad as your family experience was, I'm not seeing evidence of "for the most part"

My father was in nursing care and hospice and had nothing but good treatment.

[Meowmee]

14. I have seen more than a few in person and heard many similar stories

And reviews. I am glad that your father had such a great experience however what I am saying here is the actual truth- this is a billion dollars “industry” and they are robbing and abusing the elderly- that’s happening on a daily basis. In homes and hospitals by one means or another. One that hires unqualified & underpaid workers as well. I have video and photos of abuse.

[shrike3]

2. Just another way to f--k us over.

It never ends.

[jaxexpat]

3. Death, like life, is not comfortable for the un-wealthy.

Oh, and BTW, if you're reading this, there's a 99.9% chance you're NOT wealthy. Your best hope is that the negligence in the care you receive (and there WILL be neglectfulness in your care) will be instantly lethal.

[XanaDUer2]

4. Is something being done to stop this?

This is insane

[Demovictory9]

12. Its already against fed laws. Next step is education about the paperwork

[iluvtennis]

5. This is disgusting - taking advantage of family of elders when they are at their most vulnerable.

[Rebl2]

6. My mother

is in a nursing home and we got elder lawyers involved before she went into the nursing home. Haven’t really had any problems so far. She has been there about three years.

[Mosby]

7. So now you need an attorney to inspect the intake docs.

They are insinuating themselves into every aspect of life.


Why didn't that judge suspend the lawyer who submitted serious accusations without any evidence whatsoever?

[Totally Tunsie]

8. The laws governing this system are known as Filial Responsibility Laws.

I did some research on this while my mother was still alive, and was stunned to find out her state - Connecticut - is a Filial state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filial_responsibility_laws#:~:text=Filial%20responsibility%20laws%20(filial%20support,is%20extended%20to%20other%20relatives.

Filial responsibility laws (filial support laws, filial piety laws) are laws in the United States that impose a duty, usually upon adult children, for the support of their impoverished parents or other relatives.[1] In some cases the duty is extended to other relatives. Such laws may be enforced by governmental or private entities and may be at the state or national level.

Currently, states With Filial Responsibility Laws include
Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.


BEWARE!

[MissB]

11. My siblings and I will never move our mom to our state

We don't have a close relationship with her, though we support her by one of us owning a house she lives in (and the others pay a portion of the mortgage monthly to the other sibling). We live in on of the filial responsibility states and she does not. We were aware of the law in our state vs her state when purchasing the house. She's comfortable enough where she is, and frankly she refuses any medical care at all. We fully expect she'll die in the home.

That may sound harsh, but we went through a lot during the pandemic when she and her husband caught covid. Vaccinations were available and folks were still masking, but they opted not to. Her husband did go to the hospital, and a few weeks later was removed from life support to allow someone else to use a machine because he really had zero chance of survival at that point. She never left the house while sick. I'd sent the local fire department to her house several times (they were fabulous folks, small town) but she wouldn't open the door. One sibling showed up with their spouse and a forehead thermometer and oximeter and she refused to let them use either of those (harmless!) devices. I finally had a heart to heart with her about what her wishes were if she were found incapacitated and she indicated that she wanted no lifesaving efforts. Will she get that in writing? Nope. But at least we know. She's still alive, btw.

[erronis]

9. I also just read that 70+% of all hospice organizations are now privately held

with venture capitalists trying to corner that market also.

[Crunchy Frog]

13. I'd kill myself before going into a nursing home.