I need help

[jenni82104]

Ok, so I have a challenging situation with my mother, and I am hoping someone here has some ideas. My mom has had surgery for spinal stenosis back in March. She has been in a rehab/nursing home since she left the hospital. So far she has not been progessing too good. She cannot walk or even stand by herself, so she needs help with everything. She can sit up by herself in bed and feed herself, but that is about it. She needs help with dressing, showering, and she is on a cath and is in diapers. The problem is she has told me they are discharging her on Tuesday. Seems her insurence does not want to pay for her stay anymore if she isn't going to get better. I do not know what to do, I do not know if I can even get her in the house. I have one brother who lives with her, but he has medical restrictions and cannot lift her, and I work fulltime and am in Pharmocolgy class, so when I am not working I am studying. I just do not understand how they can just discharge her when she cannot take care of herself at all. I do not know where to get help, and her social worker is not giving me any suggestions. Help!

[YooperNurse]

If she can't afford it, wouldn't she be eligible for a medicare paid bed in an extended care facility? I work in rehab, and we send people frequently who are private pay to facilities, I know our social worker arranges for them to apply for medicare or whatever is needed. I just can't accept that you are told that you have to take your mom home, bye bye and that's it! Aren't they looking at patient safety after discharge, which brings up another question, do we need to be looking at safety at anytime immediately after discharge or is it out the door then out of mind?

[jenni82104]

I called adult services in my state, and told the social worker my situation, and I was told that she does not qualify for medicare. I think she makes too much for help, but not enough to pay for the whole thing herself. I think the facility is looking at whether it is safe for her or not to go home, and the social worker told me she doesn't think it is. The problem is the insurance company will not pay indefinitely.

[ktwlpn, LPN]

don't feel like you are failing her-you are doing the best you can.It's the healthcare system and society that is failing the elderly.You need to consult a lawyer who specializes in elder care.It sounds like she will never be motivated to get back to taking care of herself and certainly would not be safe at home without lots of services.Some communities have a waiver program that provides funds and services to assist people to remain in their own homes but space is limited.It sounds like she will have to sell her home to go to LTC-when the money runs out she will get medicaid.I work in a county run LTC and every bed is medicaid certified-we actually have very few private pay residents and they all get the same care.If insurance or medicare/medicaid will not pay for a particular med/treatment or consult we eat the cost.The last for-profit LTC I worked in had maybe a dozen medicare beds-if a resident ran out of money and a medicare certified bed was not available then they were discharged (most ended up at the county home) Those private pay residents got the services their insurance and families paid for and nothing else....It looks to me like you either have to be flat broke or a billionaire to live past the age of your retirement....Goog luck-keep us posted