Six
weeks after Deborah Zwaschka-Blansfield had the lower half of her left
leg amputated, she received some news from the nursing home where she
was recovering: Her insurance would no longer pay, and it was time to
move on.
The home wanted to release her to a homeless shelter or pay for a week in a motel.
“That
is not safe for me,” said Ms. Zwaschka-Blansfield, 59, who cannot walk
and had hoped to stay in the home, north of Sacramento, until she could
do more things for herself — like getting up if she fell.
Her experience is becoming increasingly common among the 1.4 million
nursing home residents across the country. Discharges and evictions
have been the top-ranking category of grievances brought to state
long-term care ombudsman programs, the ombudsman agencies say.
While nursing homes can discharge residents for a limited set of reasons,
legal advocates say that home operators sometimes interpret those
reasons in unjustified ways. Often, it’s because the residents’ more
lucrative Medicare coverage is ending, which is what Ms.
Zwaschka-Blansfield said happened in her case.
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Source: The New York Times (via Empire Report New York)
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