The Responsible Thing to Do About 'Responsible Party' Provisions in Nursing Home Agreements: A Proposal for Change on Three Fronts

34 Pages Posted: 3 Jul 2011 Last revised: 9 Jun 2012

See all articles by Katherine C. Pearson

Katherine C. Pearson

Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson Law

Date Written: 2004

Abstract

Nursing homes routinely seek the signature of a family member on nursing home agreements, calling the signer a “responsible party” or sponsor for the resident. Federal Medicare and Medicaid law provides that participating facilities much “not require a third party guarantee of payment to the facility as a condition of admission...to, or continued stay, in the facility.” Nonetheless, if federal benefits prove to be unavailable, courts are holding responsible parties contractually liable for thousands of dollars for the care of their elders. This Article proposed private and public responses to the increasingly likelihood that nursing homes will seek collection from family members.

Keywords: nursing homes, elder law, older adult, older person, Medicaid, Medicare, third party agreements, third party responsibility

JEL Classification: K1, K33

Suggested Citation

Pearson, Katherine, The Responsible Thing to Do About 'Responsible Party' Provisions in Nursing Home Agreements: A Proposal for Change on Three Fronts (2004). University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Vol. 37, No. 3, p. 757, Spring 2004, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1877306

Katherine Pearson (Contact Author)

Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson Law ( email )

150 S College St
Carlisle, PA 17013
United States

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