Tips To Protect Your Finances From Nursing Home Abuse
Abuse in nursing homes can take many different forms. Be it patient negligence or financial fraud, nursing home abuse cases have become common these days. However, elders in today’s culture are most at risk. Unfortunately, so many telemarketing scams target seniors and cause them to lose money. But, it makes it worse when the organizations meant to be there to look out for them in their later years, are the ones committing the fraud. So, in this case, what can you do to keep your loved ones safe while they are in a nursing home? Moreover, is there any way to help them make up for some of their losses? These are some excellent questions to ask.
In this article, we’ll tell you how to protect yourself and your finances from nursing home abuse. So, let’s just dive in.
Ways to keep yourself safe from nursing home abuse
Financial abuse is, basically, taking advantage of another person’s assets without their knowledge. Since elderly people might have some physical or mental condition, it can hamper their cognitive ability to understand that someone might be taking advantage of their condition. Therefore, you must be the one to notice the signs of nursing home financial abuse and take the necessary steps to prevent that. These signs usually include:
- Unforeseen changes to a bank account or banking procedures
- Large-scale withdrawals of cash or securities
- Added or different names on an elder’s brokerage or bank signature cards
- Unauthorized use of the elder’s ATM card to withdraw money from him or her
- A will or other financial document changes without warning
- A mysterious disappearance of money or valuables
- Care that is not up to par is given to your parents
However, you can follow these tips to protect yourself or your loved ones from these types of scams.
#1. Getting guardianship of your elderly family members
In many cases, you would have noticed that elderly people are being neglected. This is a heinous kind of abuse. So, if you think that your aging parents or grandparents are in a similar situation, you could ask the courts to get their legal guardianship. As a result, you would be better able to manage their care and make sure they are receiving both what they need. Besides, most importantly, this way you can manage what they are paying for.
Also, check out https://www.rblaw.net/practices-nursing-home-abuse to know more about nursing home abuse and get legal help. Inform seasoned lawyers of your worries so they can guide you on how to get guardianship in a court of law. Tell them that they often have bed sores and that there is no proof that the nursing home never really provided them with any of the services they are charging for. Did the nursing facility assume you wouldn’t review the details of their invoices? In fact, sometimes all it takes to put things right moving forward is to let them know that someone is aware of their maltreatment or neglect.
#2. Getting your financial losses back
This can get quite difficult, particularly if your loved one is paying both out of pocket and with insurance. So, you would likely need to notify Medicare, Medicaid, or their private supplemental insurers besides filing a claim to recover services, treatments, and drugs that were not given. Moreover, they are likely overcharging insurance as well if they are scamming your senior loved one.
Sadly, all the assurances they provided about the quality of care were the reason you chose this specific nursing facility. Now, your loved one can ill afford to spend the money because they didn’t receive half of the services “offered” when they first moved in. Even at this old age, their financial future might be at risk at this rate. So, once you have gotten formal guardianship of your loved one and complied with HIPAA standards, you can once again ask for your attorney for help in sorting out this issue.
#3. Patients with dementia and memory loss are more at risk
The most vulnerable patients are those who have memory loss, dementia, or Alzheimer’s disease. With these conditions, they are not likely to be able to recognize the signs of abuse. They might constantly groan in pain. However, they are unable to communicate to their loved ones that they have festering bed sores. In situations like these, it is critical to detect the warning signals of abuse and neglect because your elderly parent or grandparent may not be able to express their concerns clearly.
Therefore, if you notice anything fishy, try going more often and at odd hours when you wouldn’t normally go. Continue to check for those dreadful bed sores we spoke about before and see whether they’ve been cleaned up. Some families also complain that their parents wear the same outfits every day. So, you must also check if this is happening to your parents too. The only method to receive compensation for prior abuse or neglect is to take the help of a lawyer to submit a claim on your behalf. You might eventually want to relocate them. So, that great payout might be able to provide you with the money you need to do so.
