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When mom came home from a nursing home we were billed as private pay for additional days of her stay. We were unaware that she had stayed past the 100 Medicare days allowed. The NH is requesting full payment for these days within a 12 month period. As the monthly payments exceed what we can afford, we offered to pay but on a 36 month plan. Are they required to accept our good faith offer of payment?

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I am a retired NH Administrator from PA. Federal regulations provide that the NH is soley responsible for notifying the resident AND responsible party, if one is designated-I'm assuming that their records have you as the resp. party) You should have rec'd a formal notification form or letter indicating the "last covered day" of Mediccare coverage at least 48 hours ahead of the discharge date. If your parent or you did not receive this notice, you are NOT responsible per federal law. You may contact the NY Dept. of Health, Office of Health Systems Management and file an official complaint. They are required to follow-up and investigate the complaint within a few days (it's 48 hrs in PA). If legal action is needed on your part down the road, having an official record of what happened and if the facility followed the regulations appropriately will be quite helpful, but once the DOH investigates, you will know for sure what you are financially responsible for. It's commendable, BTW, that you are willing to pay the full bill, even over a three yr period vs. one. There is no law that stipulates what time frame is appropriate and if the case went before a judge, the judge would try to find a reasonable time frame that the family could live with. The above comment is correct that the facility will not pursuit a lawsuit if a regular pymt is being made.
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My Aunt was on SSI and Medicaid. They allowed her to stay in her home. She had no mortgage. There ws a 23,000 lein from Medicaid on her house and had to be paid backwhen the house was sold. It could be because she was on SSI.
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Under what circumstances was she there initially?

Why did they allow her to stay the additional days?
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Whatever is said by each party during phone calls, cannot be documented (unless taped & agreed by all parties). Send your offer via certified return receipt mail and keep a copy of original.
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I agree with JoAnn29 in that you should call the Nh and discuss. In NY, you can be on medicaid and own your home and one car. They will not put a lien on it. Find out the rules that apply to you.
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First Medicare only pays 21 days full, up to a 100 partial. Hopefully her supplemental should have picked up some of it. Mom has a balance of 152 a day she paid. This should have been laid out for you when she was admitted. Unless you signed something making u responsible for payment, they can't make u pay. Call the NH and discuss a payment plan with the Supervisor if you get no where with the associate who answers the phone. Medicaid may pick up but if ur Mom owns her home, they will put a lean on it. If u get no where with billing, call the facilities Social Service dept.
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They are not "required" to, but they ARE pragmatic, and they will be so glad you're making an attempt to pay, that they WILL accept your offer if it comes to that. Nursing homes and hospitals get stiffed all the time, mainly because people don't have the money to pay them. Suing someone will not change that! It will only cost the facility more money in legal fees. Please re-read the paperwork that was signed when your mother was checked in. YOU ARE NOT RRSPONSIBLE FOR THIS PAYMENT. Your mother is, from her assets. If she does not have the assets to pay them, that's just too bad. They have to take a loss. Don't put yourself at risk financially to make these payments. It's simply not necessary. That being said, do look into the option of medicaid picking up the balance. The facility was irresponsible in that they should have initiated a medicaid application with you when it became apparent that your mom was going to need more than the 100 medicare days. You might even be able to sue them for that negligence. You won't win, but it will sure give you a lot of leverage. ..and perhaps cause them to view your bill in a much more favorable light... Good luck!
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All above answers have good info. Additional thought --hire an attorney to sort this out for you. NH might be thinking they can push you around. AVOID letting the bill go into Collections!
Who has financial poa? (minor question --how come nobody counted to 100 days? )
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How many days past the 100 days that Medicare paid did she stay there? Did anybody approach you prior to the end of the time to notify you that she was coming up on the 100 days?

You stated in your post that "WE were billed as private pay for the additional days of her stay." You are not responsible for paying the bill----your mother is. The nursing home cannot demand payment from you, nor should you volunteer to pay them or accept any financial responsibility for the extra days. If your mother doesn't have any assets to speak of to pay them, then tell them to apply for Medicaid for your mother to get paid. Nursing homes are shrewd & know exactly what money/assets a person has & they should have notified you that the 100 day Medicare limit was quickly approaching instead of just keeping her without letting you know.

Let them sue your mother if it isn't important for her to maintain good credit. If they try to go after you for the outstanding balance, fight it.

Now, if your mother gave away her money/assets within 5 years of the time she went to private pay status, that could be a totally different story. If you received the money, you will probably have to pay the nursing home with the money your mother gave you.

The nursing home isn't required to accept any payment plan, but if they are decent, they will. But remember that you are in no way responsible for paying it.
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Would your mom qualify for long term Medicaid to pick up those payments? The rules are a little different from state to state. The facility should have suggested and/or assisted you with this. If she wouldn't qualify, then she must have assets-at least that is what the facility is thinking. You should have been given the option. Nursing homes want to get paid and many find themselves with families that don't pay. I would think the facility would see you are making a good faith effort to pay them, making them more likely to work with you on a payment plan.
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They can either accept that or sue your mother. If you signed her in, they would sue you. If you are responsible and you don't want your credit affected, get a loan and pay them.
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