I took mom to Emergency Room over July 4th weekend this past summer with excruciating tooth pain. Medicare has just denied the 14k+ claim from hospital, but I have not gotten an actual bill from the hospital yet. Mom did not have additional dental plan with BCBS, only their Bronze supplemental plan. She sadly passed away in November at 87. Am I responsible for hospital bill when it comes? I live in MA and know there is a filial law. She had 33k in checking account; I gave 10k to each of her three granddaughters for Christmas, and account is closed. There’s a 26k life insurance policy which I’ll keep. No other assets. I had previously set up a prepaid funeral trust for expenses and Assisted Living was paid by her long term care insurance.
I had taken her to the dentist for toothache on July 2nd, but he did not drain abscess or pull tooth. Instead, he sent her back to AL, advised Tylenol for pain, and told me to book appointment with oral surgeon. Since July 4th holiday was coming, the only appointment I could get was the following week. The pain was severe, and AL staff gave her 7grams Tyl in 24hrs. (should be no more than 3grams/24 hrs, but Tyl was written as PRN, so CPAs weren’t keeping track and mom had Alzheimer’s, so she didn’t know.) When I figured out how much Tyl was given, I was advised by PCP’s office to go to ER for Tylenol overdose. Hospital did blood work and labs were fine. ER started morphine drip to relieve pain, wanted to discharge her that evening but they spoke to the LPN at AL who did not want mom discharged back to them. AL did not have nurse at night or anyone who could monitor pain meds. AL needed meds blister packed, pharmacy they used was closed, and hospital had no blister pack capability, although they were top Boston hospital. After much discussion, ER admitted mom for “observation” and their oral surgeon team drained the abscess that evening, which helped somewhat. I picked up mom on July 4th, brought her back to AL, and Tylenol was only pain med, which really wasn’t sufficient, but somehow she dealt with the pain. On July 6th the hospital’s oral surgery out patient department pulled the tooth, and my mom’s pain was finally gone, thank goodness, as she suffered unnecessarily.
Now, I maybe wrong.
There was a simple will, but I’m an only child, so money was left to me. The checking account was in mom’s name, but I had POA and POD. I called the bank, supplied death certificate they requested, they closed mom’s checking account and asked where money should be transferred. I gave them my own account number and bank transferred the funds to me. I just followed what the bank told me to do. I did not need to go through probate court for any reason to make me an official executor. It seemed pretty simple until I got the letter from Medicare....
Even if there is a Will, some States require the estate to go into Probate at the County/City court.
My Dad had a Will plus a Revocable Trust, and because he forgot to place some funds into the Trust, I had to go to probate. I could not hand out any inheritance for two years until the Probate was completed [this varies from case to case, State to State, and if there is a backlog at Probate Court].
Federal and State laws are constantly changing, and it is hard for any family to keep up with any changes unless there is an Elder Law Attorney living in the house.... [sigh]
What will did she leave? Are you her executor on a will? If you were not her executor how did you get a hold of her money to pass it out to grandchildren?
Most hospital bills can be negotiated down in amount, and I agree with JoAnn that if you are representative of her estate you can contact the hospital re her estate.
I think at this point I would advise you to get the advice of a Trust and Estate attorney. Some things were not done correctly here and they may cause future trouble. Follow the advice of that attorney.
You may not get a bill. There may be a reapplication for medicare with more correct coding (not teeth, but pain control) and etc, as you have not received a bill yet.
People often do "get lucky" in small estates by returning bills that say "deceased; no estate." But that would of course be a lie. There WAS money. Which should not have been distributed to family.
Follow the advice of a lawyer at this point.
Yes, because Mom had money. I think you jumped the gun in giving out her assets. If not a Will she died intestate meaning the State determines who gets the money. If a Will and your Executor, then you were responsible to see that all outstanding debts were paid before any money was dispersed. And I think there is a waiting period when that can be done if you Probate, like 8 months before probate can be closed. I think because this gives debtors time to put claims in. How were u able to get to Moms money? Were you on her account as a survivor? That money automatically went to you upon her death?
I may try and appeal Medicare's decision. You can call the billing department at the hospital and ask about Moms account. You may have to send them a death certificate to do so. This way you know what is owed. You may want to ask if the amount can be discounted.