Lucille Brooks, a retiree who lives in Pittsford, New York, was sued in 2020 for nearly $8,000 by a nursing home that had taken care of her brother. The nursing home dropped the case after she showed she had no control over his money or authority to make decisions for him.
In Monroe County, where Rochester is located, 24 federally licensed nursing homes filed 238 debt collection cases from 2018 to 2021 seeking almost $7.6 million, KHN found. Several nursing homes did not file any lawsuits in that period. "I get calls all the time from people who are served with these lawsuits who had no idea that this was even a remote possibility, who call me crying and frantic," said Anna Anderson, an attorney at the nonprofit Legal Assistance of Western New York who has represented defendants in such suits, including Brooks.
Nationally, Beth Martino, a spokesperson for the American Health Care Association, the largest nursing home industry group, said lawsuits against families are"not a common occurrence." Brooks initially thought there had been a mistake. She and her brother, James Lawson, were part of a big family that moved north from Mississippi to escape segregation in the 1960s. Lawson, who was a gifted athlete despite losing an arm as a child, spent his career at the Rochester Parks and Recreation Department. Brooks worked in insurance. They lived on opposite sides of the city.
Many lawyers say making a family member financially liable is unfair."If you bring your child to a doctor, you should pay for the child's medical care. But if your adult child brings you to a nursing home and you're 80, the law doesn't bind you to pay those bills," said Paul Aloi, a Rochester attorney who has represented all sides — patients, hospitals, and nursing homes — in debt collection cases.
Ferris, who was estranged from his mother, had no legal control over her finances. She had been managing her own affairs. Nevertheless, theFerris two years later for nearly $11,000."It's not right," said Ferris, who is no longer speaking with his mother. Monroe County provided supporting records in only three of the 29 lawsuits it filed that included a fraudulent conveyance claim against a friend or relative of a resident. And Underberg & Kessler, a Rochester law firm that has represented the county and other nursing homes, attached documentation in only five of the 70 actions it filed with such claims. The firm has filed the most nursing home debt cases in Monroe County.