Every elderly person deserves the same respect and care

In the Associated Press’ May 8 story “Nursing homes turn to eviction to drop difficult patients,” readers learn that nursing homes in different parts of the country are — as the article put it — “increasingly evicting their most challenging residents.”

Advocacy groups say many of the residents who are targeted for eviction are those who pay with Medicaid and are difficult to take care for, including some who are suffering from dementia in favor of short-term rehabilitation patients and those who pay privately.

In the AP story, the American Health Care association states the evictions are “lawful and necessary to remove patients who can’t be kept safe or who endanger others.”

According to federal law, there are six situations where facilities can evict or transfer a Medicaid resident.

1. The resident’s needs cannot be met in the facility,

2. The resident’s health has improved and the resident no longer needs the services,

3. The safety of individuals in the facility is endangered,

4. The health of individuals in the facility would otherwise be endangered,

5. The resident has failed to pay or to apply for Medicare or Medicaid; or

6. The facility ceases to operate.

Complaints about nursing home evictions are up 57 percent from 2000, according to data from the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.

We think it’s inhumane that there are some nursing homes out there that are targeting Medicaid patients and evicting them. It should be illegal. Every patient in a nursing facility, whether they are paying through Medicaid or private means, should be treated with the same respect and given the same health care.

What’s worse is after a resident is evicted from a nursing home, in some cases because they are sick and need hospital treatment, the facility will not let them back in once they are better.

Facilities like nursing homes do serve a purpose. It used to be that families would take care of their older sick relatives until they passed away.

As our country has become more mobile, there is more distance between families. They don’t live close to each other and their older relatives can feel isolated.

People have also become too busy. Households will typically have adults who work full-time jobs, which means there is no one who can stay home and take care of their sick relatives during the day. Residents can go to a nursing home where they can get the health care they need, as well as meet and bond with new people.

However, it also seems like society is telling families that they need to put their older relatives into nursing facilities. When the time comes families should let their relatives make decisions as to whether or not they want to go into a nursing facility.

The issue with nursing homes unlawfully evicting patients correlates with what’s wrong with the health care industry. The goal seems to be “how much money can we make?” rather than “how can we make this person better?”

Health care should be about improving the quality of someone’s life — or in the case of the elderly, making their transition into the next life as comfortable as possible — instead of focusing on profit.