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My 96 year old dad was in hospice care at home with a daily part time caretaker. The other day he was in pain and the hospice service called a paramedic to visit him. They decided to take him to the Hospital for his pain in his stomach.


They fixed his constipation problem but now they won't release him. They said his cognitive score was a 2 and they will only release him with 24/7 home care which he does not need or want. Hospital keeps giving me a round around and lying to me. Not sure what to do.

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If he is on Hospice, someone needs to be with him 24/7. Having a p/t aide is OK but when she is not there a family member or friends needs to be. This is how it is where I live.

Hospitals cannot release if its been determined the person needs 24/7 care and its not being provided.
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yukii007 Dec 2019
Now they are telling me I need to hire a certain caregiver and pay them $17,000 a month. It feels like extortion just to get him home. The problem is I am 6000 miles away and I have people to help him and even stay 24/7 but now they want there own people before they let him go.
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Yuki; It is your dad that needs to fund his own care.

Unless you are his legal guardian, you have NO obligation to pay for his care. and even then, you would be paying for his care with HIS funds.

Tell the hospital, "no, I can't possibly do that".

End of story.
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Does your dad have a guardian? If not, then generally he can leave whenever he wants whether the hospital agrees or not. It's just AMA. Against Medical Advice. Unless there's some specific law in your state saying otherwise, hospitals are not prisons. They can't physically restrain him from leaving. Now there may be some consequences with his insurance. They may refuse to pay since he went against medical advice.

This is the opposite problem many people have. That the hospital discharges someone before they feel they are ready. It feels like what the hospital tells you is the way it has to be, that's not the case. What the hospital tells you is just their suggestion. It's not an order. In most cases, they don't have that authority. You can ignore their advice. The wrinkle is the insurance. Since if they don't code it in a way that the insurance company will pay for, the patient becomes financially responsible.
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worriedinCali Dec 2019
Nope. That’s a myth about insurance not paying if you leave AMA. It’s not true.
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It is called an unsafe discharge and they won't do it because of the liability involved.

You can take him home, but if something happens and he is alone the authorities can look to hold you responsible.

He obviously doesn't know what is good and safe if his score was a 2. So unfortunately he really needs 24/7 care to remain safe.
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