Cousin in nursing home anxiously watching mail for a check for unclaimed property from the state (PA). We knew from state website it was mailed but never came to her. We asked staff about it, they said it was not in the building. Three weeks after it was mailed i called the Unclaimed Property office to report it was not received. Today, the bill comes from the nursing home and the value of check is listed as a "credit" (payment) toward her bill! I have emailed and asked how did this check (made out to the resident) get deposited without her actually receiving it! Thought I would ask here if it is normal for nursing homes to go thru patient mail and take envelopes obviously containing checks? (she was on Medicaid then we sold the house and went to private pay, check taken 6 weeks after house sale) Can't wait to hear the administration's reply....
I'm really find this to be quite an arrogant act.
Saying that, I would like to know how the NH was able to cash her check without Moms signature. I would ask the state if it was possible to get the back and front of the check. That you as POA did not endorse the check and Mom didn't either as far as she remembers. If found that the signature is fraudulent, then I would take it to the Administrator.
If you signed nothing saying the NH is allowed to open mail, then they were wrong in doing so unless a written policy. Your Mom is a resident not a prisoner. When you get all the info together, take it to the Post Master at the PO that deliveries that facilities mail.
Come back and tell us what happens.
"It's a federal offense to open mail that doesn't belong to you. If you do it intentionally, you could be looking at a $250,000 fine and up to five years in a federal prison."
Did you ask the facility about the credit to her monthly bill? What did they say?
The outsourced billing co confirmed the employee who sent the check on to them and confirmed it was made out to the patient...but she had no scan of the back of check. I contacted the state to see if I can get it from them.
Phone calls and emails to facility are unanswered.
Hope to get exact details from my cousin today and what she has found out. She is like an 80 yr old Harriet t h e Spy knowing all the goings on there.
W\o rereading the earlier posts, I don't recall if you have any authority or are a co-signer on the account, so that could be an issue. If it is, ask what they would require from your cousin, a letter or affidavit perhaps, to allow you to order a copy of the check and get that. Your cousin could also call in authority, but if she's not well known by the bank, that might not be accepted. She could send a letter, witnessed by someone other than you.
Good luck.
Taking the money is Fraud and Financial Fraud of an Elderly Person...they can lose their licence!
There is a common misbelief that you can have No Money if you are on Medicaid. Wrong!
You did not say how much $ was involved, but the obligation is to report it to Medicaid. It is likely that her total assets are now below the $2,000 plus car, buria contract and homeowner exemption. Any money spent on her needs, OTC meds & supplements, hearing aid batteries, transpotation to appointments, meals when out for medical care are allowable expended.
If she was at the max. of the $2K limit, Medicaid could require a spend down, but facility is committing a crime by taking that money without her full, clear and informed knowledge.
I would write asking for a refund of the credit...an overpayment...and CC State Representative, Medicaid Ombudsman, State NH Licensing Bureau, States Attorney. Send it certified, return receipt requested to NH.
Let's say, just for illustrative purposes, that something like this happened:
The mail arrived at the NH.
Your cousin's letters were duly delivered to her in her room.
She gave the repayment letter and check to a worker, saying she wasn't sure if this was the letter she was expecting or how how to deal with it.
The worker didn't know either, and toddled off with it to the office, and handed it to an administrator.
The administrator, later that morning, popped to your cousin's room and asked her to endorse the check - just handing her the check, reversed, and a pen, and saying "sign here please." Your cousin obligingly did so and asked no questions.
The check was paid in.
Your cousin did not connect any of the above with the letter she was expecting.
Everybody over the next three weeks was referring to this letter and understanding the words 'unclaimed property check' in different ways.
So, let's suppose it's something as innocent as the above, nobody actually being a weasel. It's STILL not okay. Because ANY such interactions or transactions should have been documented in detail in your cousin's notes. They can use this as an opportunity for teaching and learning.
They will be eager to settle out of court with your cousin, but there will still be a paper trail if they try this with anyone else.
1. She never saw the check. No mail received.
2. She signed papers on admission(Jan) and a paper to move her social security to the facility in house bank back in April, She has signed nothing since.
3. The money lady she asked about the expected Unclaimed Property Check told her "there is nothing in the mailroom". Of course there wasn't, by the time she asked, the check had already been taken and put against her invoice. We just didn't know til the amount, $570 was clearly posted as a payment on her bill rec/d 8/29. The outsourced billing co confirmed this woman sends in the checks to them.
4. Cousin will ask the social worker exactly what papers she has signed and if she signed a form permitting them to open her mail, she will rescind it. She said "I don't want anyone opening my mail and I would not have authorized it," providing they were clear what she was signing.
My job is to see the BACK of that check and how it was endorsed. I will call the billing co again. they said the front of the check was payable to the patient and they didn't have a scan of the back. They can try again. And I will call the nice contact I made at the Unclaimed Property Office, a claims examiner, who was concerned when I related what I knew last week. A state check should make its way in canceled form back to the state, right?
Thank you all so much. Feel like you all "have my back". My cousin was willing to keep asking questions there but I told her I will work to get a copy of the endorsement and go from there. She doesn't need the upset. Now off to find the Advil, have given myself a wicked headache!
Depending on the status of your cousin's Medicaid eligibility, the money might ultimately go to the NH anyway, but the NH's taking the money directly seems very wrong!
Did anyone give the facility advance notice that the payment was coming in and to hold it?
If the home put the money towards a "credit" as they stated I would go to them and tell them you want that money transferred to the resident personal account immediately, if they refuse to do so I would call the Ombudsman for assistant or the State and report them for financial exploitation of your loved one.