My 83 yr old mother who has multiple sclerosis since 1987 had a stroke about a week ago and is now in a skilled nursing rehab. Although she has medical insurance, they want someone to sign documents to be financially responsible for anything her insurance doesn’t cover.
Medicare will pay % the first 20 days. The next 21 to 100-50%. The other 50% is Moms responsibility. Her supplimental may or not pay. The finance office should explain this all to you. If she is there 100 days, the bill we be in the thousands if insurance doesn't pay or she can't afford to. You maybe able to get Medicaid to cover that cost. At 101 days, though, she now is private pay and they will definitely want her to be on Medicaid if she can't afford to pay. She will be asked to sign over her SS and any pension to offset the cost of her care.
Mom can be discharged at any time if Medicare sees no progress. So the decision will need to be made if Mom goes home or to LTC. If she has no money, then Medicaid will need to be applied for. I suggest you din't allow a SW to get you started. You need to be involved with the Medicaid caseworker making sure they have all the info needed to get Mom on Medicaid within 90 days allowed. We find on this forum that SWs have given family members the wrong info or not enough. I first went and talked to a Medicaid caseworker to see how things worked. When I actually applied, another caseworker took me thru the application keying in the info on his computer. He gave me a list of things I needed to do. I started the application in April, Mom paid May and June in LTC. June I confirmed she was now spent down and her Medicaid started July 1st. Mom only had her house, exempt asset, SS, and small pension. So the application was easy.
ONCE, we moved mom from a nasty rehab facility and had her moved to a much better one. OS simply handed over her AMEX card and said "Put the remainder on my card". (She's stinking rich and will throw money at any problem, b/c face it, a lot of times it's MONEY that's making the difference between sub-par care and great care). She knew fully well she would be charged the difference and that was fine with her.
This has SCAM written all over it, IMO. Who's to say, at the end of the day, what this rehab deems 'not covered' and what you'll wind up being billed for??
In reality, Medicare covers ALL of the charges for ALL of your mom's rehab for the first 20 days at LEAST. After that, you may have to call her secondary insurance provider to find out what's covered IF they want to keep her longer.
But in the meantime, don't sign anything!
Absolutely do not sign any documents that you've not either thoroughly reviewed or had reviewed by an attorney. Of course, any SNF would like to receive payment that is over the amount paid for by Medicaid (or her own estate), but you are not financially responsible and have no obligation whatsoever to assume any fiscal responsibility for your mother's cares.
I'm sorry to know that your mother is no longer able to live outside of a SNF, but they are obligated to accept the fee-for-service amount that state agencies negotiate for the care that they provide and it is intended to be the same quality of care that is provided by the insured or private pay residents.
If you find yourself being pressured into signing anything, pls immediately contact your state ombudsperson for elder or disabled care and report this illegal action. Many of these SNFs want to get anyone to pay higher amounts for the care they've already negotiated a cost for and that is quite simply not lawful on their part.
I hope that you mother fairs well in this new care setting and that you can navigate all of this without the added burdens of being pressured to pay for what is not your responsibility. MA has a 4 year look-back at any fiscal or property transactions and if your mom had good advice with any estate planning (as too few do), then some of her assets will meet the threshold for protection from liens by state MA programs and services.
Sign nothing without legal advice.