Southern California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog
What happens when elderly adults spend some time in the hospital but aren’t officially admitted? In these situations, patients are typically classified as simply being under observation. This “observation only” status can limit older adults’ chances for Medicare nursing home coverage once they’re discharged from the hospital, according to a recent article in the New York Times. Can this lead to elder abuse conditions? And how is this happening? In order to be eligible for certain Medicare benefits, an elderly patient “must spend three consecutive midnights in the hospital—not counting the day of discharge—as an admitted patient in order to qualify for subsequent nursing-home coverage.”
More than one year ago, the California Hospital Association (CHA) recognized the problems that arise because of the “observation status” that many older adults end up with during a hospital visit. The CHA reported on an amicus brief filed by the American Hospital Association (AHA) in connection with a federal lawsuit in which Medicare beneficiaries contested the use of an “observation status” to later deny nursing-home coverage. This past December, AARP released a report that argued certain medical facilities intentionally place older adults under observation—as opposed to admitting them—for Medicare purposes, according to California Healthline. As you can see, this is an issue that’s relevant in California and across the country. What are the key issues at stake, and how can elderly citizens receive the care they need?
First, it’s important to have a clear idea about why hospices are bringing in relatively healthy older adults, and how these companies are profiting from non-terminal patients. How did this start to happen? In short, many hospice care centers have begun recruiting patients with aggressive marketing tactics, and many of those patients aren’t terminal. It’s in the financial interest of a hospice chain to “find patients well before death,” the Washington Post reported. And the reason is simple: “Medicare pays a hospice about $150 a day per patient for routine care, regardless of whether the company sends a nurse or any other worker out that day. That means healthier patients, who generally need less help and live longer, yield more profits.”
If you have been pressured to move a parent into hospice care, your elderly loved one might not receive the kind of treatment she or he needs. For-profit companies shouldn’t be allowed to take advantage of older adults. Indeed, we might think of these actions as another form of 
If residential facilities are not held to the fines levied against them by the California Department of Social Services when they’re found to have committed elder abuse or elder neglect, what is to stop these care homes from behaving negligently? It can be difficult to know whether a loved one has been subject to nursing home abuse and neglect, but it’s always a good idea to speak to an elder justice advocate. If you believe an older adult has been the victim of elder neglect, you should contact an experienced 
When we think about transitioning an elderly loved one into a nursing home or an assisted-living facility, we expect that the facility will provide care and won’t engage in acts of nursing home abuse or neglect. However, 
It’s no secret that 
