Making the Hard Decisions On Nursing Homes

Placing your loved ones into a nursing home or assisted living facilities is one of the hardest decisions you will probably have to make in your life.  Whether it’s a close relative, a parent, or even your spouse, it can be an agonizing decision for many reasons.   The least of which may be all the horror stories one hears about neglect or in many cases outright abuse of some nursing home patients.

According to a study by the New York Times, the leading stress causing factors when considering a nursing home are the urgency of the situation and the cost.

Urgency

One of the biggest problems facing your loved ones is the urgency of the situation.   Over 60% of nursing home admissions come from hospital referrals.  Let’s say your loved one had an accident and was admitted to the hospital.  The hospital has diagnosed that they need rehabilitation, and is now in a hurry to place them in any available nursing home, regardless of the quality of care.  Even more alarming is that these temporary placements can become permanent, as getting insurance to pay for a transfer can be timely and difficult.

This bring us to our next factor, COST.

According to a 2010 study by the New York Times, the average cost of nursing home care is around $200 a day.  And while many of the patients will be eligible for Medicare, it is important to remember that Medicare only pays for ‘medically necessary’ care; this excludes ‘custodial care’, which is defined as help with eating, walking, bathing, and other daily tasks.  The remaining care must be paid for from long-term care insurance policies, Medicaid (best case scenario), or in most cases out-of-pocket by their loved ones.

While the above factors can cause you a great amount of stress when searching for a nursing home for your loved ones, it is important to remember to do the best researching you can.  There are some great nursing homes out there, and unfortunately there are some terrible ones as well.

Michael Levine is a Long Island nursing home neglect attorney with RGG&L.  His firm specializes in cases involving Long Island nursing home abuse and neglect. To learn more about Long island nursing home neglect attorney, Long Island nursing home abuse attorney, Manhattan nursing home abuse, Manhattan nursing home neglect attorney, and Long Island personal injury attorney visit rapplaw.com.