How to Protect Yourself and Your Finances from Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing home abuse comes in many shapes and sizes. From patient neglect to financial fraud and everything in between, elders are most at risk in today’s society. You often hear of seniors being defrauded out of money with so many telemarketing scams, but it is even worse when those scams are perpetrated by the very institutions that are meant to be there to protect them in their final years. So then, what can be done to protect your loved ones in a nursing home and is there any way to recover some of the losses they’ve sustained? Those are very good questions.

Attaining Guardianship of Your Aging Loved Ones

If you have been noticing over time that your elderly parents or grandparents are being neglected, which is a vile form of abuse, you could petition the courts to attain legal guardianship of them. This would put you in a position to oversee their care to ensure they are getting what they need, and just as importantly, what they are paying for.

You might want to check out the legal services on https://www.rblaw.net/practices-nursing-home-abuse. Voice your concerns to knowledgeable attorneys who could advise you on how to gain guardianship in a court of law. Explain that they are often covered in bed sores and there is no evidence that some of the things they are being charged for were ever provided. Did the nursing home think you wouldn’t check their itemized bills? Sometimes all it takes is letting them know that someone is aware of their neglect or abuse to make things right going forward.

Recovering Financial Losses

This can become fairly complicated, especially if your loved one is paying with both insurance and out of pocket. Not only will you need to file a claim to recover services, treatments and medications not provided but you will probably also need to inform Medicare, Medicaid, or their private supplementary insurers as well. If they are defrauding your elderly loved one, it is probable that they are overcharging insurance too.

Sadly, the reason this particular nursing home was selected was because of all the promises for care they offered. Once moved in, your loved one didn’t receive half the services they were ‘sold’ and that is money they can ill afford to spend. At this rate, their financial future could be at risk, even at this advanced age. Again, this is something your lawyer can help you sort out once you’ve satisfied HIPAA requirements and gained legal guardianship of your loved one.

Dementia and Memory Loss Patients Most at Risk

Patients suffering from memory impairment, dementia or Alzheimer’s are most at risk simply because they are unlikely to be able to recognize those symptoms of abuse even if they are suffering from them. While they moan in pain frequently, they don’t have the capacity to explain to their loved ones that they are suffering from festering bed sores. It is important to recognize the signs of neglect and abuse in circumstances like these because your aging parent or grandparent would be unable to explain exactly what is bothering them.

If you suspect anything amiss, try visiting more often and at unusual times you wouldn’t ordinarily arrive. Continue to look for those horrid bed sores mentioned above and whether or not they’ve been bathed and groomed. Some families have stated that their parents are in the same clothes for several days in a row. The only way to get compensated for past neglect and/or abuse is to hire an attorney to file a claim. Looking to the future, you just may wish to move them, and that nice settlement can give you the financial ability to do just that.