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She has been waiting on Medicaid for months and felt it was close to approval. After 9 months of paying out of pocket, we have simply run out of money. They are kicking her out. Can I get her in another facility? Can I keep them from kicking her out? We applied for Medicaid through the facility over 7 months ago. They just recently told us that Medicaid doesn't have it in the system and asked for original application as it would be easier for Medicaid to "scan" it into the system. Apparently, they couldn't do it with a copy. Unfortunately, all this time has gone by and now, they have asked that we remove her by the end of the month because we are beginning to pile up a bill. I feel that Medicaid could have been approved months ago, if they had not dropped the ball. What can I do?

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Eddie, you are a gem!
Wiglett, this is awful! It does sound like your mom's paperwork "got lost." The nursing home wasn't following up, or didn't do it right. Work directly with Medicaid and listen to what Eddie says, since he really knows how this works.
Hang in,
Carol
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W:

Sounds like somebody lost the paperwork and you're going to have to start from scratch. Most facilities won't fuss about a pending Medicaid as long as they're getting paid some other way. (Mine is like that.) The moment they sense $ won't be coming in the easiest thing to do is discharge the person.

Go straight to Medicaid and reapply for that "American Express to Medical Services" card. Mom might not yet into another facility without it.
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And also get in touch with Ombudsman in your area.
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Our experience included following up constantly by phone every step of the way and still I had to complete the paperwork three times and transfer ownership of two life insurance policies before my mother was approved. This process is too important to depend on others to do it for you. When your mother is approved, they will pay her back to the date on which she qualified. Whatever you do ... don't give up ... it's better to start from scratch and redo the application if necessary and keep copies of everything. Mother got "lost" in the system when I added documents through our local department on aging office but persistent phone calls got us back on track. Find out who your case worker is and call & e-mail to ensure that all is going smoothly. That approval letter WILL come if you are persistent.
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Short answer ... sorry, I didn't address your main point ... our nursing home tolerated an unpaid balance, but were getting very antsy after the 4-month mark. Be in touch with the new nursing home and ensure that the medicaid case worker will help you. I don't see them taking her without private pay funds or medicaid in place.
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In most cases like this Medicaid will close a file when they have not been provided requested documentation within a given time frame. It could be bank statements, value of life insurance policies, unexplained withdrawals from a checking account, CD's value, pension amount, and the list could go on and on. It is your responsibility to provide all requested documents. Most nursing homes Business Office Managers and the Administrators meet weekly to monitor all Medicaid Pending applications that are being processed. They certainly don't want to have someone staying there for months with no one paying the bill and then suddenly find out that the resident will not qualify for Medicaid and have an unpaid bill of $40K and no way to collect.

But to answer your question, yes the nursing home can request you find an alternative facility. However, they have to give you at least a 30 days notice of discharge, they must assist you with finding another facility and they must make sure it is a safe discharge (they can't just discharge your mom to your house if she requires 24 hour care). I would contact your local Ombudsman and challenge the notice of discharge. That might add another 90 days. In the mean time get all the required documents for Medicaid and don't try to hide anything. Medicaid will find it.

If your Mother is above the Medicaid caps you might want to get the assistance of and elder law attorney or a professional medicaid planner.

Good Luck
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They admitted my Mom on 02/21/2013, now they are telling us she has 14 days, she needs to leave on 03/02/2013, or we have to pay $5,950.00 for March, my wife and I are disabled also, we cannot pay and we can not care for her
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My mother was in a rehab/nursing home facility in Fort Worth,Tx. After her insurance ran out, we had to get her on Medicaid and transfer to the nursing home side, as she was still unable to care for herself, and we could not. We spent hours and hours with the business office , giving them EVERYTHING they asked for. We were assured her assets (several small life insurance polices ), were UNDER the $2,000 limit. In the mean time, we did not like the care she was given, like day and night from the rehab section. So we proceeded to have her transferred to the nursing home in our small town, where all 3 of her children live. Went over it all again and was assured she would get covered. This was 9-2012. In December 2-012, the Medicaid case worker phoned to say she was OVER THE $2,000 LIMIT. I cashed out her whole life policies and paid down on an irrevocable funeral plan. FINALLY Medicaid was approved, but would not pay the months of 9-2012 through 12-2012. We met with the current facility and they assured us it was all straight this past Spring. Then, in Septemeber 2013, we received a discharge letter from them saying we had to cough up $21,000.00 or she would be kicked out. We have mounting medical bills of our own and have depleted all our resources. No one else in the family can or will help. She needs 24 hour care. Of course the original and new business offices pass the buck to ME.My question is, does anyone know of any charities that might help us? I am beside myself. My mother is 90 years old.
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