There's never been good relations with the admin offices of the LTC facility.
The form was supposedly filled out exactly one year ago. I filed a PA600L, one week after.
At an MA appeal hearing 7 months ago, it was learned the MA-51 wasn't completed correctly. Part of the agreement reached in the hearing was the form was to be completed by the facility.
My mother became MA eligible in November. Immediately, the LTC facility began seeking additional resident liability payment. When I received the eligibility letter (PA162) in December, it showed the Home Maintenance Deduction (HMD) as ending in July. While my mother was MA-pending, it was believed by all parties that the HMD would end in August. The LTC facility made adjustments to the resident liability, and this is why they seek additional money, which will need paid from the estate.
Two months ago, I contacted my attorney. I objected about the HMD end date. I learned the MA-51 was never completed. A hearing was requested.
My attorney withdrew the hearing request at the last moment. I was told "possibly" the HMD started the month of February (the month prior to when the MA-51 was initiated, and prior to filing the PA600L), when my mother spent a week in Skilled Nursing at the facility. That it "may have" been backdated. I objected. I requested a copy of the MA-51 from my attorney, but got nothing. Then, I requested the date the MA-51 was signed. No response.
My thoughts were to take this issue to a magistrate, since the hearing was withdrawn. I believe the estate owes the facility nothing, and that the facility owes the estate instead. I overpaid the facility when my attorney told me to pay resident liability for a month my mother wasn't even in the facility. I strongly objected, but the attorney said, "It can be sorted out later." The facility acknowledged the overpayment, but they've applied it as a credit towards the recalculated resident liability they are seeking.
After reading the Pennsylvania LTC Handbook and PA laws, it seems that a HMD, if applied, starts the month of the month that the doctor signs the MA-51. If this is correct, believing that the MA-51 was initiated in March, I would say the HMD would have started in March, and ended in August, as everyone previously thought. I have yet to find anything relating to backdating of the HMD.
I received no indication from the CAO of any backdating. From my reading, it seems the CAO "can" acknowledge that on the PA-162, but apparently doesn't have to. I really don't know about any backdating, and my attorney's office gives me the impression they don't either. Words like "probably" and "may have" suggest speculation.