An 87-year old assisted living resident was involuntary discharged from her facility because she went on Medicaid. The facility promised to keep her on after she paid 6 months of care out of pocket and then went on Medicaid but this agreement was not put down in writing; these kinds of agreements rarely are written down.

The law does not require a facility to continue to keep a resident when they convert to the Family Care Program. The monthly reimbursement rate from Medicaid is significantly less than what a resident would pay privately. The facility explained that needs may increase for patients and they can no longer handle that kind of care at the Medicaid reimbursement rate.

Appeals of the involuntary discharge are sometimes successful according to an attorney, however, she also advises that waiting out the discharge may also be beneficial. If the resident does not have another place to go that will accept Medicaid payments, the original facility may take their payments rather than not getting any payments for the space.