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She is on Medicaid. She has nowhere to go and cannot afford memory care. I do not know what to do.

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“the nursing home is discharging her”.
OK so why is this discharge happening? And why now? Has she gotten an actual eviction notice?

What to do is real interdependent on how she got there and how her bill has been paid so far. So How did she enter the NH?….. like entered the facility as a post hospitalization rehab patient and now her rehab days has ended?
if it’s this then she has to do the paperwork to segueway from a rehab patient (paid by health insurance) to a custodial care resident. Custodial is private pay, or LTC insurance or LTC Medicaid.
OR
is it that she has been there as a custodial care resident and something has changed in her care plan to the extent that this NH cannot meet her level of care? If it’s this, the NH as they take Medicare, has to do a continuum of care for her to leave in a safe manner. Usually they find a reason to call EMS to take the resident to the ER / ED then after the hospital gets them all stablized, the old NH refuses to let them return. It’s now the problem for the discharge planner at the hospital to find another NH. The planner will just have to find some facility for her unless they can convince family to come and get her. If you do this then dealing with everything for her is all your responsibility.

NH can also use this approach if there is a resident they want to just get rid of for whatever reason (they have way overdue account, they have a behavior that consistently crosses the line and is affecting other residents and staff).

This is an actual NH so a skilled nursing care facility, right? It is not an Assisted Living or Memory Care place? AL & MC do not have the same requirement for continuum of care as in theory able to do your ADLs with maybe a bit of help. They do not have the stricter requirements of a SNF on how residents are supposed to be released. So AL can totally evict to a shelter. That’s not a good look so they send them to the ER.
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Reply to igloo572
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Beethoven,
Euthanasia is only an option in Canada and a few other countries. Physician-assisted suicide is available in a number of US states where it's been legalized by a passage of a statewide referendum or a bill passed by a state legislature (and in one state, Montana, by a state Supreme Court ruling). The US Supreme Court ruled a number of years ago that the US Constitution does *not* include a right to physician-assisted suicide. Even in the states where physician-assisted suicide is legal, the person requesting it must be terminally ill and within 6 months of death. No physician, nurse practitioner, physician asssistant, hospital, long-term care center, or assisted living center must be forced to participate in it if it conflicts with religious or ethical beliefs. I'm very thankful that it's not legal in my state and I'll lobby against it if there's even a slight possibilty that it could become legal. We need not turn our health care professionals into killers. Good palliative care and hospice care make it totally unnecessary. BTW, I also oppose capital punishment and most abortions. And I'm not a MAGA-type Republican at all. I've been a Democrat (albeit a pro-life one for almost 40 years) since my first votes as a college freshman in 1972.
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Reply to swmckeown76
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markay163: Retain an attorney.
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Reply to Llamalover47
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Talk with an elder attorney for Medicaid in memory care.

Then Tell the NH: UNSAFE DISCHARGE!
The memory care place is an option When Available!
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Reply to Patathome01
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What are her needs if a NH is not willing to care for her?
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Reply to JoAnn29
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You might call the local hospice office. They may be able to give you some advice. I take it there is no LTC ins. Do what ever you can to k
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Reply to Lokione
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Wash your hands of it and make them find her placement. They cannot put her on the street. There are Nursing Homes that have Memory Care units. It's actually becoming odd that a LTC facility doesn't.
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Reply to mommabeans
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There are memory care facilities that accept Medicaid, so I would ask the nursing facility she's in now which ones in your moms area do accept Medicaid and take things from there.
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Reply to funkygrandma59
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JoAnn29 Jul 9, 2025
If a NH is not willing to care for her I doubt MC will. They don't have the staff and they aren't skilled nursing.
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The nursing home cannot discharge her without placement.
Don't get involved or all of this will be put on you.
Tell the nursing home if they cannot handle her they will have to transfer her to the ER.
Do not go to the ER.
Tell them in ER that they will have to do whatever it takes to get her Medicaid placement in facility, but that she cannot go home, which would be an unsafe discharge.

Let the state take this over. Don't do POA. You cannot function for someone out of control and on Medicaid as soon facilities may be less likely to accept said patients. Those that get care will be those without family intervention, who are managed by the state.

I am so sorry, but this is desperate situation that calls for desperate measure imho.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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ElizabethAR37 Jul 12, 2025
As an elder who may be in need of Medicaid in the future if I linger long enough, I hope to make my Final Exit before that day arrives, . Couple that with private equity ownership of eldercare facilities and, well, it's not a pretty picture for ordinary non-wealthy Americans, is it?
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Give them permission to drug her into compliance.
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Reply to Isthisrealyreal
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cover9339 Jul 3, 2025
That's not too nice, that could be making her almost catatonic.
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I know absolutely nothing about these kinds of things but I’d be saying, if you, a SNF can’t take care of her, obviously I can’t either so discharge her to a hospital. Hopefully there is a hospice situation that would take over?
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Reply to LucyImHome
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Beethoven13 Jul 3, 2025
Better even, can she be placed on hospice in her current location so they can medicate her into compliance. A family member can not handle this situation at home if a team of caregivers at SNF can’t. It’s unfair and abusive to dump this on a family member or son/daughter. Get hospice support and get her safe for continued facility care. Sedation. Our health care system is broken and is failing people in this situation. Euthanasia should be an option.
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