Do you know how expensive rehab care is?

GladGradDad
Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:44:33 +0000

Something doesn’t sound right but that could be partly because you’re getting info second-hand. As her D, you can contact the skilled nursing facility, speak to one of the director level people, and perhaps get the real scoop on your mom’s status in case your mom is somewhat confused on what the status actually is - especially if they change what they say a few times. By ‘status’ I mean her ability to stay there covered by Medicare.

Medicare will only cover a certain period and to stay longer needs a clear justification from the doc - for example if she got an infection that needs to be treated, etc. They have some pretty strict rules about it so people won’t take advantage of Medicare and spend far more than they’re entitled to. There are also rules on the notification the facility is required to give before they can move your mom out.

It’s easy for the doc to say he thinks she s/b there if he’s not paying for it. And the idea of racking up $350/day only to find out thousands of $$$ on the bill later it won’t be covered isn’t acceptable or workable.

It sounds like she really doesn’t need to be in a skilled nursing facility if she doesn’t require actual medical care. An SNF is expensive and if one doesn’t really need an SNF then one shouldn’t be there paying for it.

Depending on her mobility and needs, can she possibly go stay with a family member and perhaps hire someone to come in part time, like maybe 8 hrs/day or so, to help with her? This s/b much less expensive than an SNF.

Another possibility might be to check out some assisted living facilities in the area or even in an area near you or another family member. Maybe they’d let her stay there on a month to month basis. An ALF should be quite a bit less expensive than a SNF since they don’t have the medical staff or level of staffing the SNF would have but they can still help with mobility issues to a degree (but they might require a certain level of mobility to accept her).