I return to Florida this week to help my fantastic sister-in-law as she single-handedly arranges for mover from "the home" to move the Knuckle's basics from her house to her wonderful new apartment in Clearwater and decant the knuckle from her rehab...all before 4 pm on a Thursday.
Plot twists abound even in real life. In my last worried post concerning my mom and her busy bossy daughters, we were arguing over whether to move her without the 'dignity' of a night in the old sod, a potentially fatal chance to go no further. As with many Americans with limited funds, it was the Knuckle's insurance company who came up with the perfect plan for moving her onward and ten floors upward. They simply stopped paying for her care at the rehab!
That's right. The athletic feat of ambulating 250 feet with a walker (and under supervision) has enabled her to qualify for Home Health Care.
This means no more lolling around the nursing home for this perky 91-year old. Despite Wellcare's acknowledgement (big of them) that their client may, in fact, still need help in such minor functions as dressing, toileting, showering and preparing a meal, the fact that she can shuffle behind a walker while wearing a safety harness means she can go "home."
Here's the funny part. During the appeals process, I got to chat up the Medicare contractor (you didn't think they let govt. lifers handle these, did you?) and found out that if we did take the Knuckle home, leaving her there, at the mercy of her one-hour-a-day visit from a nurse or therapist, would qualify us, her family, as elder abusers! Her doctor, who hasn't returned a phone call since Christmas, would have just cause to call family services.
So that's what a rock and hard place looks like...
We ended the torture by plunking down for a lovely studio in an indie/alf floor of The Oaks of Clearwater where, by Thursday night, she'll be tucked up in a safe place with a million dollar view. If she does fall again (okay, when she falls again) it will be a matter of hours and not days before she is found. In this brave new world, what more can we hope for?
Plot twists abound even in real life. In my last worried post concerning my mom and her busy bossy daughters, we were arguing over whether to move her without the 'dignity' of a night in the old sod, a potentially fatal chance to go no further. As with many Americans with limited funds, it was the Knuckle's insurance company who came up with the perfect plan for moving her onward and ten floors upward. They simply stopped paying for her care at the rehab!
That's right. The athletic feat of ambulating 250 feet with a walker (and under supervision) has enabled her to qualify for Home Health Care.
This means no more lolling around the nursing home for this perky 91-year old. Despite Wellcare's acknowledgement (big of them) that their client may, in fact, still need help in such minor functions as dressing, toileting, showering and preparing a meal, the fact that she can shuffle behind a walker while wearing a safety harness means she can go "home."
Here's the funny part. During the appeals process, I got to chat up the Medicare contractor (you didn't think they let govt. lifers handle these, did you?) and found out that if we did take the Knuckle home, leaving her there, at the mercy of her one-hour-a-day visit from a nurse or therapist, would qualify us, her family, as elder abusers! Her doctor, who hasn't returned a phone call since Christmas, would have just cause to call family services.
So that's what a rock and hard place looks like...
We ended the torture by plunking down for a lovely studio in an indie/alf floor of The Oaks of Clearwater where, by Thursday night, she'll be tucked up in a safe place with a million dollar view. If she does fall again (okay, when she falls again) it will be a matter of hours and not days before she is found. In this brave new world, what more can we hope for?
3 comments:
off topic but ms estes of PWA fame and i were here. nice nun photo. you look hawt.
1980s glamour shot!
al - love the rock & hard place definition
cc
Post a Comment