ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Social Security will now start with-holding back child support from payment made to nursing home. He has no income and no way to pay the difference.

ATTORNEY ANSWER:

I am going to assume from your question that the nursing home resident is receiving Mediciad benefits. For patients who are on Medicaid in the nursing home, the nursing home is paid partially by the resident through the resident’s income and Medicaid pays the balance. The person who is representing the resident (health care agent/power of attorney) should contact the state’s Medicaid office to notify the office that there has been a change in the resident’s income.

The court order will need to be supplied to the agency. The agency should recalculate the resident patient pay amount. Should the resident run into problems, you may have to contact a local elder law attorney. You can find a listing for an elder law attorney in your area on the website for National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). Also, speak to the nursing home. Nursing homes deal with Medicaid issue constantly. Someone there should be able to direct you to the person you need to contact.

If the resident’s patient pay amount is not recalculated, the resident will continue to accrue a debt to the nursing home. Eventually the nursing home will seek to discharge the resident for non-payment.

The Beliveau Law Group: Massachusetts | Florida | New Hampshire

The attorneys at The Beliveau Law Group provides legal services for estate planning (wills and trusts), Medicaid (planning and applications), probate (estate and trust administration), business law (formation and operation), real estate (residential and commercial), taxation (federal and state), and civil litigation (in connection with these practice areas). The law firm has offices and attorneys in Naples, Florida, Waltham, Massachusetts, and Salem, New Hampshire.