Is it wise to sign over Social Security income to a LTC Nursing Home facility?

We did not sign my mom's over to the nursing home. Maybe because we had already private paid for almost a year they trusted us and didn't require it?
If you set it up that way and later decide to move the person to a different facility, you might have trouble getting the SS changed.

In my LO's case, her SS still gets direct deposited into her bank acct that she's used for years. POA can sign checks, so we send NH a payment every month which is the amount of the SS minus the small amount she's allowed to keep every month (Medicaid). This has worked well for quite a long time. The bank statements come to my home and we have online access to the bank acct as well.

I believe we do have the option to sign over the SS to go directly to the NH, but we never really looked into doing that. My thought was that if we had to move LO (or simply wanted to do so) it would be one more hassle to deal with getting her moved and then also having to wonder where her SS money went. Maybe that's not a big deal, but I had the option to keep control of the SS and bank account so I took that route.

It certainly makes it easier for them to be the payee on Social Security and other pensions, etc, as JoAnn says below.

If private paying you do not need to do this. But you sign over nothing. You give permission, as the POA, to allow the NH to petition SS to become your LOs payee. Same if there is a pension involved. The NH has to file with the company that oversees the pension to become payee. Not sure if this is mandatory even if on Medicaid. As long as they are being paid, I don't see a problem.

I allowed the NH to become payee because I knew Mom would remain in her NH. I also allowed it because I didn't want the headache of dealing with SS and her pension if they cut off payments too early after death. I figured the NH could deal with that.

With SS you get payments like you do when you work, after the fact. So, your December payment is actually Novembers money. If you die in November, you should not get a December check. If you do, SS will recoup it. For someone like me, I get my check the end of December thats for November. So if I die the beginning of Dec I am still due that check but sometimes SS makes a mistake and stops payments when notified by funeral director of the death. So with a NH, they are due that November payment. So I figured, let them fight for it. 😊

I was told by my Elder Law attorney not to sign any paperwork with a facility in my name, but to send it to his office for review to prevent financial exposure of myself or either of my parents. If your parent has significant retirement income through SS or a pension income, plus owns property, or assets of significant value, call up or sit down with an Elder Law attorney as soon as possible. Find one in your area or close the facility where your loved one is going, because they'll have familiarity with the behavior of the facility and will competently advise you. In fact, it couldn't hurt to call one up as soon as possible before you sign a single thing with a facility, and have them review the paperwork and advise you, no matter the situation.

More details about the circumstances would be helpful. If your LO is in a facility on private pay and they run out of money, then there are only 3 options: apply for (and hopefully qualify) Medicaid and stay in the facility with little change; or move the LO out and provide care in a home by "someone" with "someone" paying for all the expenses; or the LO remains in the facility with "someone" else paying the monthly bill.

Are you the Financial Power of Attorney for someone in this situation? My MIL is on Medicaid in a good facility in MN. Medicaid takes all but $90 of her SS every month and she doesn't have need to even spend that on anything. The facility expanded their number of Medicaid beds so she is now in a private room receiving all the same care as the private paying residents. Often, Medicaid means having to share a room, and my MIL has shared a room since 2016. The facility is not being compensated enough by the government in our opinion (her SS is $1200 monthly). So, is it wise to apply for Medicaid? If the other 2 options are untenable, then it's the only option.

If on Medicaid it is required. There is no option. Her social security pays for her care at a bargain price.

I don’t know whether It’s “wise” or “unwise”, but for whatever reason, we were told we HAD to do that, and we DID IT.

I think my mother received some small amount as a spending stipend, but as I recall, I dumped that back into her ONE all purpose checking account too.