Together Patient Advocates Blog

It's generally recommended that everyone with significant medical problems wear a medical ID bracelet. Unfortunately, these are limited to a few lines of information and many people need to communicate more critical information than a line allows. How can you utilize your phone for important health information?

In the preceding blogs titled Crash Course in Nursing Homes, Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3, I shared Susan's experiences with illegal nursing home practices and lessons learned. This post summarized the lessons learned for easy reference.

Lesson 1: Rehab/nursing home stays are only covered by Medicare if a patient is first admitted to a hospital for 3 midnights.  You may think you're admitted to the hospital but you may actually only be on observation status. Observation status does not qualify you for medicare coverage for a skilled nursing facility. Ask your nurse, doctor, or the admissions team if you are "admitted" or on "observation status." 

In Part 1, I shared Susan's story and reviewed Lessons 1-3. Susan was staying in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) for rehab and was unsafe for discharge to home. The SNF threatened eviction once Susan's Medicare approved stay was completed. In Part 2, I shared the steps we took to fight Susan's illegal eviction and reviewed Lessons 4-8. Today's post will cover final lessons learned, including a resident's rights when transferred to the hospital. 

Susan lived comfortably in the nursing home for several months under Medi-Cal custodial care payment when an illness required her to transfer to the hospital. 

Lesson 9: Skilled Nursing Facilities are  required to readmit residents within 30 days of transfer to the hospital and they are required to hold the resident's same bed if transferred to the hospital for less than 7 days.  I was aware of these regulations already. We requested to sign a bed hold form at the facility. This bed hold meant that Susan's exact bed would be available to her for the next 7 days.

I received a friendly call the other day from" Medicare" offering me a FREE back brace. Never mind that I don't need a back brace; it's FREE through Medicare! I politely told the caller that this was Medicare fraud and requested that my number be removed from the list. For some reason, he hung up on me! 

When they hear "palliative care," most people think "hospice"--but this isn't quite correct. While hospice does include palliative care, palliative care is not limited to patients qualified for hospice. Palliative care focuses on relief from the symptoms of illness and addresses physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Many hospital systems now employ palliative care specialists and some outpatient centers do as well. Some hospice organizations are offering palliative care services in the home to patients not qualified for hospice.