How can nursing homes stop resident's POA from taking stimulus checks?

I don't understand how the stimulus check would wind up in the resident's personal needs account. My brother in law is in nursing home and his SS is direct deposited in his checking account. His stimulus check was deposited in the same account. Right now, he's spending down and applying for Medicaid, and POA is using all the money in the account to pay for brother-in-law's NH bill. That includes the money from the stimulus check. Maybe it's different if the NH is the rep payee for the social security?

Deez, if you are seeing financial abuse it is your responsibility as a mandatory reporter to contact APS.

It stinks, but it is why every employee or volunteer that works with vulnerable people are mandatory reporters.

Please do the right thing and call. You can do it anonymously.

The POA has the fiduciary responsibility of acting in the best interest of the principle, the one granting the POA. If not, it represents financial abuse and the person (POA) should be reported to Adult Protective Services. Abuse means more than physical abuse.

Deez, My understanding of a PNA is that only the resident can withdrawal funds. If they are not capable of doing this, then a representative is assigned. This representative has to show a receipt for anything they have bought for the resident before they can be reimbursed.

So is the personal needs account through the care facility? Or is the elder’s own bank account? If the facility is managing the personal needs account, why is the facility allowing the children to take the stimulus money?

The stimulus is deposited in the resident's personal needs account. The money is not being taken by the nursing home at all it's all given to the resident.

A lot of the residents have one of their children or a family member as POA and they are taking the money for themselves and not buying anything for the resident. My concern is why are they taking the money from their parents. That money is suppose to go towards the personal needs or whatever the resident wants; it should not be taken by their family members.

Maybe I should just mind my own business but it really upsets me when the residents wants to purchase something for themselves but they can't because one of the children/family members has taken all of their money.

Do you mean stimulus or Personal needs acct? With the PNA a POA has to show a receipt to be reimbursed for anything bought for the resident. That acct the NH is responsible for.

Why would a NH be involved with a stimulus check. The stimulus is going to either be direct deposited to the acct that the POA has given the tax preparer or you get a check which should probably be deposited to the same acct where the spend down money is if on Medicaid. Even if NH is payee, that money never hits the residents personal accts. The NH gets the SS directly and I would assume put it into an acct they have set up for Medicaid residents. If privately paid, thats POAs responsibility to make sure NH gets paid. NHs are not involved in a residents private accts.