When a patient in a Nursing Home goes to the hospital for several days the monthly bill changes. Why?

If your mom is on medicare and/or medicaid in the nursing home, and the charges are related to holding a bed place upon return from the hospital, you may want to call medicare and or medicaid or research on the internet bed hold policy to see whether a nursing home is required dto hold a bed upon hospital admission and for how long and how much, if anything, they can charge. The nursing home should have given you a copy of the bed hold policy.

If charges are not related to bed hold or even if they are, ask for a detailed bill showing day by day charges for the entire time period you are confused about what she is being charged and what they have demanded she and medicare and or medicaid pay. Ask them for copies of the relevant medicare and medicaid policy that says they can charge these amounts.

Because the NH is not providing services for the days she is gone. The room is still being held, but no food is provided, no staff is interacting with her, etc.

That's what I thought too but mom was in the hospital for a week ..then on rehab for another 2 weeks. The NH sent me a bill for the first month (while mom was in hosp. for $214.00. I paid it. The next month since she was on rehab they sent me a bill for 414.00. I paid it. Since she had money left from her SS check FINALLY, I got her car fixed which I use to take her to appts., funerals, visiting, hair, clothes shopping, etc. So that money was spent on her car. NOW, the NH says they made a mistake and I have to pay the entire amount for both months..which I NO LONGER have since it went on her car...which has several issues...overheating every 10 miles, intake gasket, fuel pressure regulator, heater hoses, O rings, etc. I had to keep borrowing a car to take her places. Now, it is fixed but........ This infuriates me! I have been on unemployment for 16 months and it has expired. I have NO MONEY to pay them and I don't believe this is right at all. What do I do?

Do you have a copy of the NH contract? Does it spell out how fees are prorated when the resident is not in residence? That might help.

Explain briefly that the "excess" money was used to fix your mother's car, and that the best you can do now is repay the owed amount slowly out of future SS checks (if indeed it is owed.)

I don't remember getting a copy of ANYTHING when I put her in this last NH last March. She lives with me a lot. I did explain it to the billing person and she said I'd have to pay the entire balance or she'd give me a 30 day notice to find another NH. I feel that nursing homes take advantage of our loved ones. I've seen it happen too many times with the other NH I've tried. I even called Medicaid and they said that mom's copay was exactly what I paid for those two months. But the NH lady argues with me and tells me how much they have to "write off" because they don't get paid as much as they should from medicare and medicaid. Just rubs me the wrong way and has for 6 years now.

Looks like yet another trip to the NH with very little gas to get there and back to TRY to get them to NOT be greedy. I did take the receipts for getting mom's car fixed to SRS as the NH told me to...but the SRS people said that they can only take off amounts for MEDICAL that I spend NOT mom's car repairs..they also said the NH KNOWS that. So why did the NH tell me to do that?? UGH..They have no idea how hard it is when I have no income coming in and waiting for SSI to go through on me IF it even does. Life shouldn't be this hard. Thanks 2much2cover...I've written everything down you suggested and will take it with me to NH today.