Hi all, first time poster with a mundane question: how to handle my dad's mail/bills efficiently.
My dad's recently moved to assisted living in an adjoining state because of cognitive issues, and I'm now handling his finances and healthcare issues (I've got PoA, etc.). I'm wondering how best to handle the issue of his "address".
Now that Dad's doctors have been updated about his move, he's starting to get some medical bills sent to him at the assisted living facility. I'd rather those bills get sent to me, so that I can pay them promptly and reduce the risk of Dad losing them/forgetting to give them to me. I've looked into online billing/statements/etc. for everything I can, trying to move to email/online payments and eliminate paper mail. Still, not everyone offers it, and I'm terrified that I'm going to miss something.
How best to deal with this? Tell all his doctors that his address is my address, so all correspondence comes to me? Keep playing whack-a-mole, telling individual doctors that he lives at the ALF address but to use my address as the billing address?
And what about things like insurance/Medicare/pension/Social Security? I feel like telling them his "address" is mine in a different state could cause confusion. Is there a way to clarify for them where he lives vs. where notices and such should be sent?
I don't want to cause confusion about where Dad actually lives, but don't want to miss anything important, either. The assisted living facility offered to forward any mail Dad gets to me (other than magazines/cards/etc.), and initially I told them that wasn't necessary because I didn't want Dad to feel like he had no knowledge of what was going on, but now I'm wondering if that's the best solution. Any advice?
I don't deal with paperless billing, so I don't know if you have access to print outs, but for security and future purposes, you need to have documentation on how funds were spent. This is for both your security as well as your father's, and any potential challenges to how you're managing your proxy role.
In addition, I'm assuming that you may need the data for preparation of taxes, at a minimum to determine what may qualify. And on that issue, something like a heating credit for the elderly might be something that would require referring to past bills, as in Michigan it's incumbent on the taxpayer to itemize those kinds of credits for preparing state taxes. The providers don't provide separate itemizations.
Snail mail is very inefficient where I live and mail is often lost or sent to neighbors.
I would prefer to pay bill's by phone than
send a check.
You are correct that detailed records need to be kept however it works for you.
This has worked wonderfully for my parents and aunt.
You can discontinue all paper bills. Dad will not have to see bills and fret over them.
For the bills that do not have email, does Dad's mail come to a mailbox in assisted living?
You can have a separate billing address on each account if needed.
This is what I did when I was POA for my father. Went to the post office with my POA documents, filled out the change of address forms there, and changed his mailing address.
Whatever bills or mail comes goes through the post office. It will be forwarded on to you.
Being across state lines could cause you problems if his physical location comes to question.
I did this with my dad and never had any problems. Computer programs are designed to send to the mailing address.
I also made a point of reviewing the bills with her once a month and showing her the bank statements so she felt like she had some control and input.
Also great point about reviewing bills, etc. I think Dad would appreciate that, too.
As far as bill/payor address.....at my age & experience I'm 101% sure that anyone your dad owes money to would absolutely appreciate a billing address. So feel free to give yours.
And don't feel terrible if you missed something......they'll find him/you. Relax.
You are the POA. It's an important role. It's a role of responsibility.
Works MUCH better than phone contact, at least in my neck of the woods.
Pay your father’s bills with the checks and the address (yours) on the check will become the address that the mail will be sent to.
For taxes, you will use the check deposit/payment record.
If you are Designated Payee for Dad’s SS BENEFITS, they can be direct deposited to the checking account, and you can do your annual report based on the records in the checking account.
Good Luck!
Hospital bills I had sent to my home. I did have a problem with one admitting person who said Moms legal Address was the AL and that is the address that had to be used. I told her, then u won't get paid. If the address on the bill was not exact, like the room# was omitted, it was sorted later and left in the residents room or handed to them. And we know what happens to that bill if its given to someone who suffers from a Dementia. I called the Hospitals billing office about another matter and while talking to her I told her what I was told about the address. She told me the admitting person was wrong and changed the billing address to my house.
I gave the Church, friends and family Moms address at the AL so the cards they sent she would get there.
I see no problem having bills reverted to you. I don't do it but my nephew 31 and grandson 27 use apps to pay their bills monthly. If my husband was not so old fashioned I probably would try that.
I'd wondered if folks could run into the problem you describe, where places don't really want to accommodate a different billing address from the person's actual residence. You'd think that a lot of places would recognize that sometimes it's necessary.
But every once in awhile, I find mail in her room. This is usually caused by a substitute receptionist not realizing the procedure for the Memory Care.
Perhaps you could double check with the Executive Director of your father’s AL, and ask that all mail be forwarded to you, just in case you haven’t caught something.
My mom has had medical services there that were new to her, as well as to me. So, you may have to come back to address the mail issue in the future.
Best wishes.