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To Collect Debts, Nursing Homes Are Seizing Control Over Patients (New York Times)
JAN. 25, 2015
Lillian Palermo tried to prepare for the worst possibilities of aging. An insurance executive with a Ph.D. in psychology and a love of ballroom dancing, she arranged for her power of attorney and health care proxy to go to her husband, Dino, eight years her junior, if she became incapacitated. And in her 80s, she did.
Mr. Palermo, who was the lead singer in a Midtown nightclub in the 1960s when her elegant tango first caught his eye, now regularly rolls his wifes wheelchair to the piano at the Catholic nursing home in Manhattan where she ended up in 2010 as dementia, falls and surgical complications took their toll. He sings her favorite songs, feeds her home-cooked Italian food, and pays a private aide to be there when he cannot.
But one day last summer, after he disputed nursing home bills that had suddenly doubled Mrs. Palermos copays, and complained about inexperienced employees who dropped his wife on the floor, Mr. Palermo was shocked to find a six-page legal document waiting on her bed.
It was a guardianship petition filed by the nursing home, Mary Manning Walsh, asking the court to give a stranger full legal power over Mrs. Palermo, now 90, and complete control of her money.
cont'd...
Mr. Palermo, who was the lead singer in a Midtown nightclub in the 1960s when her elegant tango first caught his eye, now regularly rolls his wifes wheelchair to the piano at the Catholic nursing home in Manhattan where she ended up in 2010 as dementia, falls and surgical complications took their toll. He sings her favorite songs, feeds her home-cooked Italian food, and pays a private aide to be there when he cannot.
But one day last summer, after he disputed nursing home bills that had suddenly doubled Mrs. Palermos copays, and complained about inexperienced employees who dropped his wife on the floor, Mr. Palermo was shocked to find a six-page legal document waiting on her bed.
It was a guardianship petition filed by the nursing home, Mary Manning Walsh, asking the court to give a stranger full legal power over Mrs. Palermo, now 90, and complete control of her money.
cont'd...
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/nyregion/to-collect-debts-nursing-home-seizing-control-over-patients.html
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To Collect Debts, Nursing Homes Are Seizing Control Over Patients (New York Times) (Original Post)
inanna
Jan 2015
OP
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)1. Ugh
Sparhawk60
(359 posts)2. How Can...
How can they sleep at night? I like money, but I could never do some thing evil like this. The whole concept of "you owe me money, so I am going to take possession of you" sounds like some thing from the middle ages.
However; I would laugh if some one file a guardianship suit against the lawyer.
inanna
(3,547 posts)3. Well we all like money - to a point.
>> I like money, but I could never do some thing evil like this. <<
I like it because there is no other way to meet my basic needs than by earning "enough" of it. And while that may mean different things to different people, ultimately it is what distinguishes the greedy psychopaths from the rest of us.
Most of us need/want enough money to make ends meet, and perhaps enjoy a few of life's luxuries. For others, the acquisition of obscene amounts of cash is little more than a game.
And I'm preaching to the choir here, I realise....
I like it because there is no other way to meet my basic needs than by earning "enough" of it. And while that may mean different things to different people, ultimately it is what distinguishes the greedy psychopaths from the rest of us.
Most of us need/want enough money to make ends meet, and perhaps enjoy a few of life's luxuries. For others, the acquisition of obscene amounts of cash is little more than a game.
And I'm preaching to the choir here, I realise....