Do I have to pay Mom's medical bills she incurred almost 2 yrs ago?
She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's & under my care. Mom passed last Sunday. I'm her only daughter and cared for mom at home throughout the corse of this disease. This situation happened almost 2 yrs ago. First off, she was whisked away in an ambulance, fully conscious and no visible signs of trauma. She had a meningioma, a small "mass" in her brain that caused her to lose consciousness for a minute or two from time to time. She was at a Sr Center however and someone called 911. They did not have my permission (I have both full Power of Attorney for Finances) and when I got to the Emergency Ward, mom was sitting up, apparently just fine and the admitting nurse was wondering why mother was there. I wanted to take her home right then but the nurse got word they wanted to keep her for "observation". I was reluctant to take on the responsibility of taking her home against doctor's orders (I should have done so, my instincts were telling me to take her and she very much wanted to come home). I came back late in the afternoon after calling her doctor who confirmed they wanted to keep her overnight (now, it was overnight which I have since learned Medicare will only pay if the person requires an overnight stay). There was nothing wrong with her, she wanted to come home so badly. I finally left after explaining to her they wanted to keep her to make sure she was ok. They had to tie her to the bed after giving her so many tranquilizers and such, it only infuriated her and they tied her down, to the bed. I wish I would have taken her home. We incurred something like $20,000 in bills for this plus a $5,000 ambulance bill. I was floored. Medicare paid whatever it was they would pay but the hospital and ambulance are now billing us for the "balance" of the bill which is almost $2,000 from the hospital, $500 from her doctor and over $1,000 for the ambulance. Mom passed away this last Sunday - do I have to pay these outrageous bills? What are your thoughts on this outrageous act of greed and conniving?
6 Answers
Popular Questions
- I'm afraid my sister is trying to steal all of my mom’s money by being on joint accounts with her. What can I do to protect my mom?
- What is the reasonable amount for a child to receive as payment for caring for their elderly parent?
- How to tell my sister that I should be paid or get more than 1/2 of the inheritance for taking care of mom?
Lot of things are confusing about what happened from the senior center to being in ER and the hospital. The senior center did the right thing by calling 911. Unless the senior center staffed with doctors or nurses, they would have no idea what was happening to your mother. Better to error on the side of safety.
As for being in the ER, why on earth was your mother "tied down"? That doesn't happen unless there was a serious medical issue. No wonder the hospital kept her for observation.
Please check your hospital bill to see if any head scans, x-rays, EKG, EEG, or similar had been taken, as that would raise the cost.
As for the ambulance cost, Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) covers emergency ground ambulance transportation when you need to be transported to a hospital.
I'm sorry for your loss.