In an illegal, but growing, new trend, nursing home residents are returning from emergency hospital stays only to find that they are denied re-admittance into their long-term care nursing home facility.

Left homeless, many are then forced to seek attorney representation and wait in the hospital until a new placement can be found. This often has devastating effects on the elderly person’s physical and mental health.

Residents dependent on Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California), are particularly vulnerable to eviction. Medicaid (or Medi-Cal) pay nursing homes as little as half the amount of money that a long-term care facility gets from private insurance or Medicare or from residents who pay out-of-pocket. Those long-term care facilities that put profits over people, look for reasons to evict lower paying residents. Continue reading →