Source: https://elderprotectioncenter.com/know-your-nursing-home-rights/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 14:09:20+00:00

Document:
We’ve compiled a list of rights that are found in California and Federal Regulations. The Federal Regulations apply to every nursing home in the country that receives Medicare & Medicaid funding.
DO NOT SIGN ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS!!! Almost uniformly nursing homes present a document to the resident at the time of admission that is buried within a stack of other documents, including the admissions agreement, asking the resident to agree to binding arbitration.
Binding Arbitration is having the resident agree to waive his or her constitutional right to a jury trial if he or she is abused or neglected.
It takes the matter of abuse & neglect out of the hands of 12 jurors and places it in the hands of a dispassionate neutral person, typically a retired judge. Binding Arbitration benefits the companies that run nursing homes. It does not benefit the resident.
12 angry jurors present uncertainty to a nursing home operator. Uncertainty equals risk in the form of potentially huge damages awards, including punitive damages. That’s why the nursing homes want the case in front of a retired judge, someone less likely to get angry at the nursing home and less likely to award punitive damages.
You have to pay an arbitrator (called a Neutral) to hear and rule on your arbitration. It is usually a retired judge who may require $15,000 to $25,000 of your money. By keeping the matter in court, the judge is paid by taxpayer dollars. The nursing home probably does not care about the cost because their legal fees and costs are typically paid by an insurance company.
Elderly victims of abuse & neglect are far better served in the court system with the ultimate fact finder being a jury of their peers.
The ″neutral″ arbitrator makes his or her living handling private arbitration. It is therefore important for the arbitrator to get repeat business. In elder abuse & neglect cases the victim is a one-time customer. On the other hand, the nursing home and the insurance company paying for its legal defense, is a repeat customer so the judge whose services $500 to $1,000 an hour or more is less inclined to award large damages, including punitive damages, against the nursing home because he or she will lose business. In other words, he or she would get a reputation as “pro plaintiff” and consequently black listed by the defense attorneys who are selecting them case after case.
It is Against the Law to Force a Resident to Sign an Arbitration Agreement.
The reality however is that most residents or the family member helping them transition into the nursing home are more concerned about the health and well-being of the resident, and examining the fine print. They want to be helpful and don’t want to appear distrustful or difficult to the nursing home because they want it to care for the loved one. They fear by not signing the document the facility will be upset and maybe take it out on their love one in the form of lower quality care.
If You Have Signed an Arbitration Agreement, Rescind it.
Nursing home residents have the right to be readmitted after a hospital stay. Whenever a resident is transferred to a hospital, the nursing home must allow the resident or family member to hold the resident’s bed for up to seven days (22 Cal. Code of Regulations §72520). This is called a bed hold. If the resident is on Medi–Cal, the Medi–Cal program will pay for the bed hold for up to seven days (22 Cal. Code of Regulations §51535.1).
Nursing homes must offer a written bed–hold notice to the resident and a family member when a resident is transferred to the hospital (22 Cal. Code of Regulations §72520(b) & 42 C.F.R. §483.12(b)(2)). If the nursing home doesn’t comply, the nursing home must offer its next available bed at the conclusion of the hospital stay (22 Cal. Code of Regulations §72520(c)).
Furthermore, any resident on Medi–Cal has a right to be readmitted to a nursing home even if the resident’s hospital stay exceeds seven days. If the resident still needs nursing home care, the nursing home must readmit him or her to the first available bed in a semi–private room (42 C.F.R. §483.12(b)(3)).
The facility’s refusal to honor a bed hold or readmit a resident following a hospital stay will be treated as an involuntary transfer, allowing the resident the right to appeal the transfer (Cal. Health & Safety Code §1599.1(h)). To request an appeal, call the Transfer/Discharge and Refusal to Readmit Unit of the Department of Health Care Services at (916) 445-9775 or (916) 322-5603 and ask for a readmission appeal. If the resident is Medi–Cal eligible or has another source of payment, he/she can remain in the hospital until the final determination of the hearing officer. If the resident is not on Medi–Cal or has no other source of payment, the hearing and final determination must be made within 48 hours (Cal. Health & Safety Code §1599.1(h)). See the “Appealing a Transfer or Discharge” section for more information regarding appeals.

References: §72520
 §51535
 §72520
 §483
 §72520
 §483
 §1599
 §1599