Show #395 Airing Sunday, 7/22/07
Many nursing facilities require children to sign on as a financial guarantor if they want their parents admitted. Should you agree to this? Here to explain your important legal rights is a lawyer who's always right, Laurie Steiner.
Question: You are sitting in the admissions office ready to sign the papers. You see some language saying you'll guarantee your parents bills will be paid. Should you sign?
Answer: No. Federal Law is very clear. If a nursing home accepts either Medicare or Medicaid, and just about every one does, then a nursing home cannot require you to pay for your parents' costs, even if Medicare and Medicaid will not pay.
Question: So how can a nursing home require children to sign their parents' admission agreement as "guarantor"?
Answer: Nursing homes cannot condition admission on a child's agreement to pay the parents' bills. So do not feel pressured into signing.
Question: What if the admission agreement says the child is voluntarily signing as guarantor?
Answer: Come on. Who truly "volunteers" to become financially liable for this, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars of another person's nursing home expenses? "Voluntary" guarantees are illegal.
Question: Can a person named as Power of Attorney be held liable for a parent's nursing home costs?
Answer: Not from their personal money. If you hold your parents power of attorney, you can use that to pay your parents' bills from your parents' money. But when that runs out, you can't be required to pay from your own separate funds.
Question: If the nursing home insists the child sign the admission agreement as guarantor, and won't admit the parent otherwise, what should the child do?
Answer: First, explain that you know the law (because you watch Golden Opportunities), and you can't be forced to sign. And the nursing home can't turn away your parent if you don't. If that doesn't work, you may want to contact a lawyer who can explain the law to the facility. If that still doesn't work, you may want to call the Long Term Care Ombudsman (216-696-2729) and the Ohio Attorney General's Office at (614) 466-4320 or their Cleveland Regional Office at (216) 787-3030.
To get your parent in the nursing home door, you may have to sign the contract. If you do, it shouldn't be enforceable. But I'd rather you not sign it at all.
Don't let a nursing home coerce you into paying for your parents' bills. It's wrong, and it's illegal. Make sure you understand your rights. For more information about nursing home rights and how you can protect your life savings, come out to a seminar this week. The number's next.
