One of the most difficult decisions you may ever be faced with is choosing a nursing home for someone you love. Whether it is for a spouse, parent, or other loved one, knowing that nursing home care is necessary to keep them safe from harm and properly cared for doesn’t make the task much easier. Once the decision has been made, the next step is to choose the best facility. The process of choosing a nursing home can be emotionally and physically exhausting given that your loved one’s happiness and health are at stake. The Hauppauge nursing home lawyers at the Law Offices of Kobrick & Moccia would like to help you make the right choice by providing some tips on how to pick the right nursing home.
Questions to Ask When Evaluating a Nursing Home
Listening to stories and statistics relating to nursing home abuse can make the task of finding the right facility for a loved one awfully intimidating. It can be done though if you take the time to do some research and you ask the right questions when interviewing potential nursing home administrators. To get you started, consider adding the following questions to your list:
- What is your staff to patient ratio?
- If there a medical doctor on call 24/7?
- What is your procedure if a resident has an abuse or neglect complaint?
- What type of background investigation do you do on new hires?
- What is your staff turnover rate?
- Have you ever been disciplined or fined for a violation of state or federal laws or regulations?
- What social programs and/or activities are available for residents?
- Can I visit my parent anytime I want?
- Do residents have options for meals or is there a set menu for each meal?
- Do you offer transportation services?
You can also conduct your own research into potential nursing homes in an effort to come up with a “short list” of options. A good place to begin that research is with the New York State, Department of Health, the agency responsible for investigating complaints about nursing homes in New York. You will also find a list of licensed nursing homes on the agency’s website. Another excellent source of information is the official Medicare.gov website where you will find the Nursing Home Compare tool, a searchable database full of information on nursing homes across the country.
Paying for Nursing Home Care
Healthcare costs, in general, are extremely high in the United States. It should come as no real surprise then to find that the cost of LTC is also high. For the year 2018, the average cost of a year in LTC nationwide was about $100,000. AS you may well imagine, New York residents paid, on average, considerably more than the national average at over $146,000 for that same year. With an average length of stay of about three years you are looking at a LTC bill of over $400,000. Because neither Medicare nor most private health insurance policies will cover expenses related to LTC, many seniors faced with the need to pay for LTC turn to Medicaid for assistance. If you failed to plan ahead, however, you (or your loved one) may not qualify for Medicaid because of the income and asset limits used by the program. Before you start looking for nursing homes, consult with an experienced Medicaid planning attorney to find out where you stand.
Contact Hauppauge Nursing Home Lawyers
Please feel free to download our FREE estate planning worksheet. If you have additional questions or concerns regarding how to pick the right nursing home, or about Medicaid eligibility, contact Hauppauge nursing home lawyers at the Law Offices of Kobrick & Moccia by calling 800-295-1917 to schedule your appointment.
Anthony Moccia
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