My brother was a patent in LTC facility. He was hospitalized at the end of August, and returned back to LTC on September 4 under Hospice care. He died the afternoon of September 5. He only spent one night at the LTC facility. They are charging him for the entire month of September. I donated all his clothes, chair, and walker as they were brand new and hardly used (the previous LTC facility was damaged by a tornado and all his belongings were replaced). Can the legally charge for an entire month when he was only there overnight?
Ask them - first
(ask to see or hopefully you have copy) Look at the paperwork you signed.
Call / Ask to see their County / State / Federal Rules and Regulations (to operate facility)
Contact the Facility's licensing board (state regulated).
Ask them the name of the entity, contact person ... and/or look on their bulletin board to see it or ask. (I believe) they are required to post it.
And/Or google "Licensing Board for LTC facilities in Oklahoma"
Donations have nothing to do with charges for care/services.
Don't pay it until you feel you've done your research.
Put in dispute if you have paid out of pocket (if not too late).
Call / contact the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General
Gena / Touch Matters
Just as an aside... She went from the LTC to a residence hospice where there was no charge until the resident was there for three days. My mother, ever frugal died two hours before the third day was over. They never asked for anything and I have been donating to them every year since. She died in 2008.
Fight it!! They should only charge for the day(s) he was there.
This being Residents' Rights Month, maybe they will have some compassion do what is right.
And often the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
If me, I would go straight to the top - the facility administrator
and ... possibly contact their Board of Directors.
Now if they have access to his accounts, and already automatically withdrew this from them, you may be up the creek.
I would then follow Burnt's suggestion to you.
Also carefully read any contract.
Call the administration; make a claim of return of any monies taken to his estate. Do this in writing today as a notification. The executor will have to do it when funtioning to operate his estate.
If they did withdraw the money directly from the brother's bank accounts, they may have to refund it and they will refund it. The OP may have to take it into court. If insurance overpaid, they'll get their own money back.
If I were you I would call your state's Ombudsman Office, talk this over with them or with a lawyer if you like, but talk to your brother's insurance. Don't pay them a cent until you do. Also, you're not personally responsible for any of your brother's bills. The nursing home is doing what nursing homes are infamous for.
The patient/family shakedown.
That's all it is. A shakedown. They will harass and threaten you with all kinds of legal consequences because they want you and your family to pay the month in cash. They aren't owed a whole month. They are owed one day.
Before you do anything communicate with your brother's insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, whatever insurance he had) ans ask them to send you itemized statements of exactly what they paid to the nursing home. It's almost certain they paid for some time. Get proof.
The nursing home tried to pull the same shakedown on me. Some of the days were paid in full by Medicare and secondary insurance because my parent had several hospital stays and still had Medicare days left. Yet they still tried to get it from us in cash too. I don't think so. The judge didn't think so either because I had to go to court over it.
Don't be afraid of these people or their shakedown tactics. Pay them nothing until you've heard from your brother's insurance.
SS, the payment he received in September was Augusts money. Its like working your paid afterwards. This should not be taken back. And SS needs to be called to resolve this. Not the first time they have taken money back in error. Since brother died in September, he is not entitled to the payment he receives in October. That will need to go back to SS if received.
If you signed a lease you have to honor the lease agreement, although sometimes you can buy it out or if the landlord isn't upholding their end of the lease agreement such as necessary repairs, adequate lighting, etc... then the tenant has a right to withhold rent until they meet their end of things.
If you're not renewing a lease you pay up until the day of the month you signed it. If you signed on the 1st of the month and all your stuff is out and the place is in decent condition, you don't pay for the month. You pay until the date you signed the lease. If you signed in the middle of the month then you pay two weeks rent and even if you're all moved out the landlord cannot legally even show the place until the time you paid for is up.
I lived in enough apartments to know this. I always got my security deposits back too. I will fight to the death if I'm owed money.
I would never pay for a month of anything if all I used was a day. The nursing home can take it to court and they will lose.
You could have fought that if you wanted to and would probably have won. I understand why families don't fight because the last thing you want to deal with when a LO passes is tedious paperwork and court appearances. This is why care facilities get away with these shameful business and billing practices though.
When families just let them get away with it, they'll never clean their acts up.
I am only familiar with NY long term care but Medicaid and Self Pay patients are billed on a per day basis. This per day rate is calculated based on number of days in the month and any unused days is returned based on the relinquishment of the bed.
Sorry for your loss. This situation is so unfortunate and I am sure is compounding the grieving process.
Social Security can go and get their money from the nursing home and they will. It's not your problem or your responsibility.