Advantage Plans/Nursing Home Care...

[kadee79]

Didn't really know where to post this for the most folks to see...but as we age, we all NEED to be aware of some of the problems with some kinds of insurances other than Medicare.  And besides what is in this article...don't get sent to any place out of your plan's group...they won't pay for that either.  Do MAJOR research before you sign up with one of these plans.

After 11 days in a St. Paul, Minnesota, skilled nursing facility recuperating from a fall, Paula Christopherson, 97, was told by her insurer that she should return home.

But instead of being relieved, Christopherson and her daughter were worried because her medical team said she wasn’t well enough to leave.

“This seems unethical,” said daughter Amy Loomis, who feared what would happen if the Medicare Advantage plan, run by UnitedHealthcare, ended coverage for her mother’s nursing home care. The facility gave Christopherson a choice: pay several thousand dollars to stay, appeal the company’s decision, or go home.

Health care providers, nursing home representatives, and advocates for residents say Medicare Advantage plans are increasingly ending members’ coverage for nursing home and rehabilitation services before patients are healthy enough to go home.

Half of the nearly 65 million people with Medicare are enrolled in the private health plans called Medicare Advantage, an alternative to the traditional government program. The plans must cover—at a minimum—the same benefits as traditional Medicare, including up to 100 days of skilled nursing home care every year.

But the private plans have leeway when deciding how much nursing home care a patient needs.

www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/nursing-home-surprise-advantage-plans-may-shorten-stays-to-less-time-than-medicare-covers/ar-AA12x7IM?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=97f15de9c65445a8aa42b5dda5d96a59