In the last post, our Chicago nursing home abuse attorney explained the importance of understanding nursing home contracts from a legal standpoint. We learned that recently, a study of the admission contracts collected from two hundred nursing homes in the state of Missouri exposed violations of the Nursing Home Reform Law – resident rights – on multiple levels, including, but not limited to areas of financial responsibility and visitation rights.
Violations such as these are not exclusive to nursing home admissions contracts in Missouri. They can be found within admission contracts throughout the nation, including the state of Illinois.
Nursing home negligence lawyers commonly see the following violations while evaluating cases of abuse or neglect (these were also included in the Missouri report):
* A nursing home resident has the right to be visited by a family member at any time. 42 U.S.C. §§ 1395i-3(c)(3)(B), 1396r(c)(3)(B); 42 C.F.R. § 483.10(j)(1).
Chicago nursing home abuse attorney: “Statements such as: ‘Regular daily visiting hours for the facility have been established and posted,’ or, ‘The facility reserves the right to limit any or all visitors’ is a violation of the federal Nursing Home Reform Law. Some admission contracts will reference ‘extended visitation is permitted under certain circumstances, typically when approved by a physician’, which implies that there are standard limitations, such as the illegal posted hours of 10 am – 8 pm. Again, an industry standard perhaps, but a clear violation of the law.”
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* A nursing home “may not require residents to deposit their personal funds with the facility.” 42 U.S.C. §§ 1395i-3(c)(6)(A)(i), 1396r(c)(6)(A)(i); 42 C.F.R. § 483.10(c)(1).
Chicago nursing home abuse attorney: “Statements such as: ‘I authorize Facility to request and be named Payor on my Social Security checks,’ or ‘it is the policy of the facility to complete a Representative Payee form to the Social Security Administration requesting the resident’s Social Security income be directly sent to the facility’ are illegal as a condition of admission.”
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* The Nursing Home Reform Law prohibits a nursing home from requiring a third party guarantor as a condition of a resident’s admission or continued stay. 42 U.S.C. §§ 1395i-3(c)(5)(A)(ii), 1396r(c)(5)(A)(ii); 42 C.F.R. § 483.12(d)(2).
Chicago nursing home abuse attorney: “Family members or other resident representatives (friends, neighbors, etc, when family members are not present) will often sign contracts citing ‘Responsible Party’ as an emergency contact, not realizing (because of obscure language and the friendly smiles of administrative representatives) that they have just voluntarily accepted full financial responsibility for the resident. Should services be denied by Medicare or Medicaid due to conflicts, or as a result of a billing blunder, the ‘Responsible Party’ is often ‘illegally’ held liable by the nursing home for tens of thousands of dollars in care provided.
“This federal regulation applies to any nursing home that accepts Medicare or Medicaid residents, regardless of whether the family member or friend you’re assisting is covered by either Medicare or Medicaid, or paying through private resources.
“A common example of this violation would include language pertaining to the resident and/or their appointed representative, stating, ‘… do each, jointly and severally, guarantee the full, timely, and complete performance of the Resident’s responsibilities, obligations, duties, and agreements under this Agreement and do each, jointly and severally, guarantee the payment of the sums due [facility] under this Agreement’ as a condition of admission.”
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* The Nursing Home Reform Law requires a facility to provide the care necessary for a resident to “attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being.” 42 U.S.C. §§ 1395i-3(b)(2), 1396r(b)(2); 42 C.F.R. § 483.25.
Chicago nursing home abuse attorney: “There are many ways that a facility will imply or coerce a future resident, and/or their family and representatives into believing that while reasonable care is a daily goal of the facility, staffing levels and other conditions beyond their control sometimes interfere with care. In fact, they prepare those considering placement with the notion that falls, bedsores, weight loss, depression and declining health conditions should be expected, as though they are common in the delivery of care to the aging and frail regardless the effort.
“The language of such contracts go as far as to immune the facility for lack of staffing, quality food, safe environmental conditions and more, which is absolutely a departure from the law, and should red-flag any individual to reconsider admission to that facility.”
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Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers warn consumers must educate themselves and be ever vigilant when reviewing contracts for admission, as in any healthcare quest these days. Ask questions and be suspect of any explanation that’s referred to as an “industry standard”. The ONLY acceptable standard is the wording found in the Nursing Home Reform Act. You can request a copy to be mailed to you by the Illinois Department of Health and Human Services, or find it online at: www.ltcombudsman.org. A copy of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act can be found here.
If you or someone you know has been abused, neglected, or had their rights violated as a resident of a nursing home or assisted living environment, please contact a Chicago nursing home abuse attorney today. Illinois nursing home neglect is never acceptable.
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