Just Pay the Damn Bill!

Even though my blog is generally about Mom, it has often included the time that my uncle spent in the nursing home, which was six years.  Today's frustration is assigned to the final bit of business related to his stay in the nursing home.  I have been receiving erroneous bills from the nursing home for the last year and have tried desperately to have the Medicaid budget corrected, but to no avail.  Now, I must pay the bill for the month of March, which was the last month of my uncle's life.  I know that all I should be paying is the amount of his pension, which was being direct deposited into his checking account and that I paid in check form to the home each month. I have tried to have the business office reconcile the bill and release his personal account money but each time I speak to someone in the business office, I am told that we owe a different amount of money and that there has been an outstanding balance for over a year.

I KNOW that their accounting is terrible, since I have found several errors in the past.  I also know that the previous business manager believed that someone was playing with the numbers to the nursing home's advantage ( hence she no longer works there!).  I know, too  that I must show a final payment of his debts to the court, since I am administrator of his estate and that no remaining balance can appear before I distribute the rest of his funds.  All of this ends in an impasse with the billing office.  They cannot/will not finalize the account and release his personal funds, and every time I call I either leave a voice mail, or I am told that they are still looking at the account.  I have lost my patience! Today I took my case to the Assistant Administrator who promised to look into the account and give me and answer within the next 10 days.  I truly don't believe that will happen.

Frank was difficult and demanding.  I am so ready to remember his good qualities and allow the less attractive things fade, but I cannot do that while I am still in the middle of aggravation that may lead to letters from collection agencies or lawyers, or questions from the court on the discrepancy between the amount I paid and the actual amount due according to the nursing home records.

Someone would say why don't you just pay the damn bill.  There is no money to meet their billed amount, and even if there were, I would refuse to allow them to  extort the money from us because of their own careless accounting. I will keep this going--but sometimes you just get tired.  I am so tired of the fight. So hoping to move on to the next chapter and yet I am not allowed to do it--at least not yet.