Question
We recently experienced the dishonest and bullying treatment of a "hospital insurance caseworker" who rushed our parent who was being treated for a hematoma of the brain out of the hospital. First this person insisted that our parent was going home and when we insisted he was too weak to walk properly and disoriented, the caseworker finally found a nursing care facility so that our parent could receive some physical therapy. The caseworker told us that the insurance would not pay for our parent to stay in hospital and that no nursing facility would take him because he might try to get out of bed and walk on his own. My parent has secure horizons. We feel he is not being cared for medically as he should but is being pushed around by his insurance company HMO. What options are available for our parent. We read the hospital's patients bill of rights but they appear to be deferring to the caseworker! Please advise!
Answer
I would need to know more to give you a good answer. However, case workers can not make these decisions. You parent's medical doctor is the only one who can decide what setting is best for him/her. If your parent was put in the wrong setting and something happened his/her doctor would be responsible and could be subjecting himself to malpractice. Where is your parent now? Did they put him in a nursing home yet or is he/she still in the hospital? Please advise and I will respond further.
