Nursing homes and Elder Law practices help to ensure the best care for patients.
The Elderly and the Law
The Nursing Home Reform Law of 1987 determines 12 rights of a senior citizen living in nursing homes. These rights are as follows:
- The right to be free of unnecessary physical or chemical restraint
- The right to know the name, specialty, and contact information of an assigned physician
- The right to be informed of deteriorating health or changes in treatment, and the dissemination of this information to personal physicians, legal representatives, and interested family member
- The right to access to personal records within one business day at a reasonable cost, as well as an explanation of what these records indicate
- The right to a written description of legal rights
- The right to knowledge of services offered by the facility and related charges (furthermore, nursing homes can only charge for services once they have informed a resident that they are not included in their basic rates)
- The right to privacy, to include areas for private calls and visitors
- The right to share a room with a spouse, convene with other residents without the presence of staff, and meet with nursing home agency representatives
- The right to eat, go to bed, dress, and spend time as preferred as well as self-administer medication
- The right to bring personal possessions such as clothing, furniture, and jewelry, and to receive protection for those belongings from staff
- The right to refuse relocation (whether from a room, facility, hospital, or home) without advance notice and the opportunity for appeal
- The right to be free of interference, manipulation, discrimination, or reprisal in exercising given rights
Whether the patient is on Medicare or not, patients who are concerned about their care when they are older need to take into consideration nursing home regulations and elder law so as to ensure their estate planning is in their best interest.
