Q: A nursing home is refusing to speak to me about a relative's death.
A nursing home is refusing to speak to me about a relative's death. She should have qualified for state aid for funeral expenses and due to some errors in her accounting where funds should have been paid from her SSI and Medicare to nursing home ,and overages are still showing when they should not have, resulting in her now going over the limit of assets, causing her not to qualify for state aid. The business office at the nursing home is not returning my calls, and when I speak to people there they are not helping me and don't care. I am also having issues with the funeral home overcharging and not communicating to the business office at the nursing home to discuss the issue to collect funds from the nursing home- I am now dealing with this issue for 30 days since the death, still grieving and not getting anywhere. Please help.
A: First of all you should find a lawyer to retain in your location who has experience dealing with nursing homes. In Illinois there is law that requires medical providers to release medical records, nursing home records and the like by a member of the family, spouse or next of kin. Nursing homes generally are notorious for being uncooperative. That being the case, and since you have been stone-walled, an attorney handling cases in this area of law should be able to cut through the obstacles you have been facing.
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