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Medicare and Medicaid pay most of her bill. Is she responsible for paying for the days to hold her bed?

Les1970: No, she should not be billed, especially since she is on Medicaid.
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Reply to Llamalover47
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Medicaid will pay any charges that Medicare does cover in the hospital. She has no money so hospital cannot expect anything from her. Family is not responsible for any balances.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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No, she is not responsible for the nursing home "holding" her bed for a few days because she went to the hospital. Medicare (if she has days left) and Medicaid already paid for her bed. They do not deduct the days she was in the hospital from what they pay to the nursing home.

Nursing homes, greedy and underhanded bloodsuckers that they all are, saw an opportunity to possibly shakedown your mother and her family for more money that they aren't owed.

Don't pay them a cent for the days she was in the hospital because they were already paid.

If they insist on being paid for the empty bed, request a statement of payment from Medicare and Medicaid before you pay anything. This will be proof that the nursing home got paid. Show it to them if they continue with their shameless shakedown.

I used to do this all the time when my parent was in the nursing home if there were Medicare days left for the year. There were many hospital stays in a short period of time even when he became a permanent LTC resident on Medicaid. They still tried to shake us down to pay in cash to "hold" the bed because all the money wasn't gone yet.

They never got a cent from me until I'd hear back in writing from Medicare and Medicaid showing what they paid. Every time there was a hospital stay, the nursing home also got paid by Medicare or Medicaid for the "bed".

Don't pay them anything until you've spoken to Medicare and Medicaid to see what they've paid. In my state if a person in a nursing home is in the hospital 3 days or more and they have days left on their Medicare, that pays for some days in the nursing home. Most states have some kind of policy like this with Medicare. Talk to Medicare and Medicaid. Get statements in writing before you start writing checks for something your mother may not even owe.
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Reply to BurntCaregiver
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Medicare along with her supplemental insurance will cover most of the cost. Medicare will cover up to 100 days. You will have to pay out of pocket past that time and it's extremely expensive. If your mom is not going back home, you must find a personal care home.
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Reply to Onlychild2024
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Is she on Long Term Medicaid, Medicaid will cover the cost. (She shouldn’t have the ability to pay any way if she is on Medicaid).
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Reply to mstrbill
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If you go on vacation for a week do you deduct those seven days from your rent?
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Reply to ZippyZee
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The rules of the contract signed when she entered the SNF will spell everything out for you. Because all facilities differ, this would be a good question for the administration at your mom's SNF. Given your Mom is on Medicaid I think it will be understood that her monies are already forfeit to her care. I doubt you will receive any bills from anyone, and in any case, given mom really has no money and doesn't need good credit, she needn't pay any bills that come her way if she has no funds to do so.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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BurntCaregiver 8 hours ago
Not necessarily, Alva. A person can already be on Medicaid in a nursing home but they will still try to shake the family down for more in cash.

If someone is not permanently in a nursing home, they are relentless and determined to keep them until every cent has been handed over.

You can never trust the people who run these places. Families have to be extra careful about every bill they are submitted because the LTC are never honest.
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Yes, it should be in your contract about holding the bed and the fee must be paid.
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Reply to Ohwow323
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She is. The bedspace wasn’t used by another paying resident during her hospitalization, it was kept for her, therefore she still pays. Hope she’s doing better
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Reply to Daughterof1930
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BurntCaregiver 8 hours ago
@Daughter

No, not necessarily. In all likelihood Medicare and/or Medicaid already paid for the bed space when the mother was in the hospital.

It's easy enough to check and to get written proof of.
What entitles the nursing home to be paid twice and double for the same bed space? Nothing. Never pay these people a cent until you see what other sources have paid first.
(3)
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Yes.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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