My mother-in-law has dementia and is wheel-chair bound at 85. My husband has power of attorney. She has been in the same nursing home for 15 months. When we moved her there, we were told that she needed to be there and self-paying for over 1 year before they would consider putting her in a Medicaid bed. Now, her money is completely wiped out, no money for even a funeral, and my husband had to pay $16,000 of our own money for her last 2 months of care so we would be "up to date": it wiped out our bank account! The home is telling us that they don't have any Medicaid beds available: they have 5, but already have 7 Medicaid patients. Instead of helping us apply for Medicaid, they gave us a list of alternative nursing homes that we can move her to. We feel very betrayed, especially because they knew her financial situation when she moved there and they understood we would be interested in Medicaid after a year. Also, it's very traumatic for her to move someplace new. What can we do? Is it legal for the home to move her someplace else if it isn't medically necessary?
