When they can't (or won't) walk anymore...

Specialties Geriatric

Published

My father-in-law ambulated fairly well until he had a psychotic episode last week. My husband hurt himself picking him up, and when my husband would try o help him walk he would stiffen up and lean back and say he was too scared.

We got him admitted to a geriatric psych ward and they say he is doing better and having no psychotic symptoms but he will still not walk and will not get out of the wheelchair, except to let them transfer him to the toilet.

Do you have patients who were ambulating and then all of a sudden were in the hospital for a period of time and never walked again? I just wonder if this will be a permanent thing.

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

Does he have Parkinsons? My MIL did that too though not so dramatically.

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Specializes in cardiac med-surg.

and they decondition so quickly

good luck

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Does he have Parkinsons? My MIL did that too though not so dramatically.

Yes he does. Funny thing, he started refusing to take his sinemet for about a month because the hallucinations were so disturbing, but when he started stiffening up really bad and said he wanted to start it again, we (husband and me) gave him one dose and he totally lost it. We came in the next morning and found him in the floor with feces everywhere: all over the bed, smeared on the floor and wall, and he said, there's bee's everywhere, and they're trying to get me!

When we told this to the people at the psychiatric center they said sinemet is known to cause psychotic episodes in some people and they would have a neurologist come in to evaluate him to find another treatment he could tolerate.

But if he doesn't start walking it is going to be very hard to care for him at home. His income won't support him in a nursing home, and there is no way we can pay the extra $1200-1800 it will take to cover what his income won't. He wants to go to the nursing home (he thrives on all the different people and the extra attention he would get there) so I wonder if some of this not ambulating is an attention thing.

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His income won't support him in a nursing home, and there is no way we can pay the extra $1200-1800 it will take to cover what his income won't. He wants to go to the nursing home (he thrives on all the different people and the extra attention he would get there) so I wonder if some of this not ambulating is an attention thing.
Wont medicaid pay his nursing home bill if he no longer has funds?
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Wont medicaid pay his nursing home bill if he no longer has funds?

Of course they will. But then when he's gone they come after you and your assets to make up for what they paid. We are in a state that recognizes filial responsibility laws, which says the child of an elderly parent is financially responsible for his/her parent(s). So all the Medicaid would do is act as a loan from the government which we would be expected to pay back when he's dead.

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Of course they will. But then when he's gone they come after you and your assets to make up for what they paid. We are in a state that recognizes filial responsibility laws, which says the child of an elderly parent is financially responsible for his/her parent(s). So all the Medicaid would do is act as a loan from the government which we would be expected to pay back when he's dead.

didnt know such laws still existed!! i would consult a lawyer...there has to be limits to what the state can expect/demand....your husband, i if remember right, is disabled? what could they expect of him?

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Of course they will. But then when he's gone they come after you and your assets to make up for what they paid. We are in a state that recognizes filial responsibility laws, which says the child of an elderly parent is financially responsible for his/her parent(s). So all the Medicaid would do is act as a loan from the government which we would be expected to pay back when he's dead.
WHAAATTTT??? WOW I have never heard of this, what state do you live in? I just have to look this up,seems like this is unconstitutional!:uhoh21:
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Correct me if Im wrong, but is this filial responsibilty law being enforced? Or is it something the Repubs want to get passed? Or do some nursing homes/ home care companies require the family to sign something stating they will be held responsible for the bill, but is not backed up legally with a law, yet. I understood that until and IF this law gets passed, the family of the Medicaid recipient is not responsible for their parents LTC bill, it would be taken out of the Estate, IF there is one. I heard that if the family member who is in need of Medicaid gave away some of his assets within 3 years of needing Medicaid he would not be eligable to get Medicaid at that time.

What about families that are not financially able to pay this exorbetant bill? I guess I am still a bit confused about this filial law, anybody out there with in depth knowledge or experience with this? Fascinating stuff, if this law passes, families would be finding themselves in a potentially catastrophic financial situation.

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I won't claim to have any in-depth knowledge, but in this state they are really coming down on holding children financially responsible for their parents. In fact, it was on the talk radio station this morning, about investigations/audits on Medicaid patients who are deceased and their families have not reported this to TennCare to keep from having their assets seized.

It's harsh and cold but it's true. And while it may not have been as widely enforced in the past, they are pulling out the guns on people now. My boss has an elderly father in a nursing home. A couple of months ago she was going to put her property at auction so she could buy a place in town. But the nursing home found out about this and they were poised to take every penny she got from selling her property. So, she cancelled the auction and looks like she is stuck where she is. What's bad is that her father is not even deceased and they were still coming to get her.

And the term "indigent" is used rather loosely here. A parent could have an income of $50,000 yearly, which is more than the average family household income, and they will still be considered indigent if their income will not cover nursing home and other medical expenses.

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Whoa, Im all for keeping the family member at home for care IF the family wants to and is able to ,but if one HAS to because of having to repay Medicaid costs, that has opened up whole new a can of worms. So if other states start enforcing this filial reponsibilty law, nursing homes really could start losing alot of their patients, because family will not be able to repay thier loved ones Medicaid bill, Im still blown away by this whole concept and it legality.:uhoh3:

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