We frequently get calls from worried families – “Can they make my Mom leave the nursing home for not paying?” My response is always, “YES – under Virginia law, they can do that.”
According to a recent article by the WallStreet Journal, nursing homes are bending the rules when evicting residents.
To Be Old, Frail And Evicted: Patients at Risk
As Nursing Homes Shift Focus To Short-Term Rehab Care, Families Must Look Elsewhere
By THEO FRANCIS August 7, 2008; Page D1
“Since Jasmine Nguyen collapsed nine years ago, apparently from a seizure, the 32-year-old has lived in a nursing home in Lodi, Calif., dependent on a ventilator to breathe and the facility’s staff for her daily needs.
But since early this year, the nursing home has been seeking to evict Ms. Nguyen and a dozen other residents in similar situations, potentially replacing them with shorter-term residents likely to bring more revenue.
Across the country, nursing homes are forcing out frail and ill residents. While federal law permits nursing-home evictions in some circumstances, state officials and patient advocates say facilities often go too far, seeking to evict those who are merely inconvenient or too costly. Residents with dementia or demanding families are among the most vulnerable, particularly if — like Ms. Nguyen and the other Lodi residents — they depend on Medicaid to pay their bills, the officials and advocates say.”
“Federal and state law gives nursing-home residents strong protections against eviction — at least on paper. But these protections don’t apply to residents in assisted-living facilities. And residents dependent on Medicaid are particularly vulnerable to eviction, state officials and resident-advocates say.”
Read the article… it is sad but true. When making money is the goal, those in need are often not cared for.