A son tells of life situations that force a nursing home choice on a family

Many people fall for the glowing Medicare Advantage ads.  They want “all of their benefits.” But there is a dark truth: Medicare Advantage works best for healthy seniors. A report on the subject from NPR: Older Americans say they feel trapped in Medicare Advantage plans is an eye-opener.   Note it IS possible to transfer back…

This post is the second in a series on Medicaid estate recovery, or “the government gets your house law.” Here we question why Medicaid has estate recovery but Medicare does not. Both are “medical insurance” for sick elders and both spend large sums of money for sick elders. The “Economics” of Medicaid The Medicaid program…

Over the 22 plus years I have been in elder law I have too often received the call from the family “Dad died last night.” He went to a nursing home after a hospitalization and they planned he would return home after a few weeks. But, it didn’t happen. It is true, seriously ill elders…

I have written often on the need for an elder to have a patient advocate to get the best care. But, what should the advocate do besides be in good communication with the doctor? I read an interesting article by Dr. George G. Ellis, Jr. In it he identifies the most common causes of medical…

I have written many times before about how the advocate for the nursing home resident-patient must know the rights of the resident.  What if the nursing home staff do not listen?  Is it “your word against theirs?”  No. Residents (under the Nursing Home Reform Law of 1987 the people in nursing homes are referred to…

Medicare Advantage Plan? Caution! A news post from NAELA states that some MA insurance companies are using computers, not doctors, to tell you how much care you will get. Here’s the note: Denied by AI: How Medicare Advantage Plans Use Algorithms to Cut Off Care for Older Adults in Need Health insurance companies have rejected…