During the last years of my husband’s life, he was in assisted living facilities. The first one I placed him in I had an interview with the admittance person regarding the cost, etc. which was very clear and to the point.
I was to pay $7000 per month for the length of time he was there and it included everything but his meds and personal things such as barbering. Because I didn’t have long-term care insurance it was a cash deal.
His prescriptions were not to be automatically filled because they didn’t take our insurance. I made it clear that I would have his scripts filled at our pharmacy using our insurance.
I wrote a check for $7000 for the month.
During his stay, he had a haircut and shave which was $35.00.
Neither he nor I were satisfied so we decided to move him.
I gave them notice that he would move by the end of the paid month and requested the bill which should have been $35.00 (for the barber service). The billing rep printed out a sheet with a balance of $7000. Plus $85 for prescriptions that their pharmacy had filled.
“WHAT?” “I’ve already paid for the month. What is this for,” I excitedly asked. She got on the computer, recalculated, and gave me another sheet with a balance of $3500 without any explanation.
I jumped up and ran into the office of the sales/admittance person to show her the bill. She couldn’t explain it either. The billing clerk said, ”You can pay it, and if there is an error you will get a refund.” I said, “No I’m not getting a refund because I’m not paying you anything but this $35.00.”
At the time a new Administrator was coming into their facility which complicated things but I asked to have a meeting with him and the admittance/salesperson. On the day of the meeting, there was the administrator and the billing person but not the salesperson.
I explained that I had contracted to pay and paid $7000 per month and should not have a balance. So he went through all the papers trying to find a loophole somewhere. He told me he would get back to me. In the meantime, I had moved my husband out.
I called several times over a few weeks and it was clear he was avoiding me. This bill was on the record and I wanted it settled as soon as possible. The last time I called to speak to him he told the operator to tell me “It was a phase in progress” or something like that.
That pissed me off. I contacted the head of all of their facilities and explained the situation and that my attorney told me to have them send me in writing what I owed and why.
The billing person called the next day to say it was taken care of. I asked them to send me a bill showing a $0 balance. She agreed to that.
Next was the pharmacy charges for something that I should not have been charged with. The Pharmacist told me I had to deal with the facility (the same admin). I got the same treatment (silence). I again had to go over his head and again got a bill from the pharmacy showing a $0 balance.
This is not happening to just me. It’s happening more than we might think. These facilities deal with older, sometimes uneducated, and often stressed out and/or sick caregivers who are either too stressed or too unknowledgeable to fight for their rights.
They’ve been getting away with it and aren’t used to clients telling them what I told them, “I’m not paying a damn thing”.
If you have to deal with Nursing Homes or assisted living facilities, pay close attention and be very clear about what you are signing upon entering and what they are charging you for during your stay and at the time of departure.
If you’ve had similar experiences, we’d like to hear about them.