Hello All! I'm new here. I have a ton of questions but will try to take them one at a time

My aunt (78) has a LONG history of cardiac problems. Well, she apparently had a "small" stroke recently and has, in the last 2 weeks or so, gone from frail but able to take care of her ADLs to wheelchair-bound and clueless as to what ADLs even are!

After being hospitalized for dehydration and other misc things at the end of March, she entered a SNF on April 2 for "rehab". She's making very slow progress and is really inconsistant. Therapists say her biggest issue is "motor planning" - in other words, she can't figure out how to make her body do what it needs to do. She can't feed herself without SIGNIFICANT assistance (we scoop the food, hand her the spoon and sometimes she can get it to her mouth. Other times, she just holds the spoon and looks at you.) She also cannot walk.

She lives with my mother, 74, who has Rhumatoid Arthritis. When G's mind was sound, mom could take care of her. She'd make sure G took her meds, prepare her meals, do her laundry etc. DH and I (and our 2 boys) live nearby and do the "heavy lifting" - grocery shopping, yard and home maintence, spring cleaning, etc.

We're concerned that G will not get enough cognition back for mom to take care of her. Mom cannot tranfer G from bed to wheelchair or change her Depends or shower her.

So, G's 20 days at the SNF is up on Tuesday. She has AARP supplimental insurance. SNF is making mom think that G will either have to go home OR pay $130 a day out of her pocket. From what I can gather, this is NOT correct. G's supplimental insurance should pay that $130 for the next 80 days, right?

SNF is also telling mom that really the only people who Medicare pays for that 100 days are people who've broken their hips. Pretty much everyone else is SOL.

SNF is ALSO telling mom that if G does not show "improvement" in therapy for 3 days in a row, Medicare can refuse to pay. Is this true?

I guess that's abt all for now. Much thanks in advance for your help!

Katy_Caregiver

Katy welcome in
Sadly this is true Katy. As long as the rehab facility deems Aunt as non responsive to rehabilitation they can in fact discharge her or keep her with your moms consent at that rate per day.
I also have AARP for my MIL but it wont pay for an extended period of time in a rehab if they dont show improvement they have to be able to take a certain number of steps on their own if they were ambulatory pre rehab stay I believe its 20 steps it may be less dont hold me to that
I hope things get better please keep us posted