When living in a memory care unit, does a resident receive any money for personal care?

Make the facility the representative payee and that should solve your problem. He would still get the PNA allowance amount for the state he is in. Talk to the person in charge of billing at the facility.

Hi gailhein
You don't mention if the memory care unit is in a nursing home. If it is, he should be getting some kind of personal money amount per month. In my mom's case she gets $50 per month. Also, what are they charging him late fees for. Something does not seem right. As his POA, does his ss money go toward his monthly living fee at this memory care unit? The late fees concern me. What is included in this memory care. Food, etc.

I think they are left $30, it maybe higher and the facility sets up an account for this. We paid for Aunts hair to be done.

The "personal allowance" is not about what kind of facility you are in, it is about whether you are on Medicaid. If yes, then, yes, you get to keep a small amount out of your SS check. The amount is set by state. My mother gets $90/month.

Pam put you on the right track. Talk to the person in charge of billing.

Question, areu his financial and medical POA? I ask because if he is on medicaid then I assume (corrections are OK. New to all this)he has no money other than Ss and pension. Which I thought was turned over to Medicaid to offset the Medicaid expenses. A small amount being banked for personal things he may need. Like previously said, the facility is his payee. Surprised they didn't stipulate this from the beginning.

The facility holds the monthly personal funds in an account. If you don't ask for this to spend on him to buy him something, the account adds up. Maybe they are trying to spend this money down. Make them accountable, and receive a refund for the late fees. They should have pro-rated his care at the start.

P.S. They are not allowed to forget, by law.

Yes, talk with the business office at the facility but be sure to follow it up with a letter summarizing the issue and what has been resolved (or not) to ameliorate the problem.

Also, do not pay the late fees. Talk to the business manager at the community and have them removed.

Contact the long term care ombudsman who is an advocate for those residing in facilities. She/he will be able to assist you in sorting out and mediating with the billing staff.

I second that. Contact the ombudsman. Late fees should not come into play at all. They're stealing. There are 2 ways this works with medicaid. 1. You can have his ss/pension go directly to the facility. They will take all of it except a personal needs allowance of about 50 dollars a month. He will get to keep that. Or 2. You can write the facility a check every month. You may want to switch to that method anyway. It's your choice. But definitely get the ombudsman involved. They need to return those late fees!

If you investigate and discover that she is not receiving personal care funds, it is something you can report to SSA, regardless if you are rep payee or not. SSA can check out the problem on behalf of the person being cared for and hold whoever accountable.