In nursing home, Medicaid and a family’s struggle

What they hoped would be a two-week struggle has turned into an ordeal lasting well over a year.Sitting in a small break room at Hillview Terrace Health and Rehab Center earlier this month, Walter May said his wife, Cheryl, who suffered from breathing problems for the previous few years, had open-heart surgery last year to remove a blockage. But Cheryl developed a MRSA staph infection. Her condition deteriorated.”They assured us her lungs were strong enough and her kidneys were strong enough,” Walter said. “Her lungs collapsed and her kidneys quit. I don’t know if it was the infection or not, but her original problem was a breathing problem.”Recovery has been slow. Cheryl was on her back for “eight or nine months,” Walter said. She requires dialysis three times a week. The other days of the week, she works on rehabilitation, “trying to get back on her feet, trying to get strength up.”Medicaid pays for what has been a long stay for Cheryl at Hillview. The program covers about 70 percent of those in the facility, said Bobby Stephenson, Hillview’s administrator.”One thing is Medicare and managed care plans are only short-term,” Stephenson said. “Without the Medicaid system, we would not be… Read full this story

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