NJ Public Advocate investigation of assisted living company expands to more than 100 cases

Court- endorsed outreach to residents and their families yields additional complaints about discharge practices of company that operates 8 assisted living facilities in SJ

 TRENTON – More than 100 people have requested to be interviewed as part of the New Jersey Public Advocate’s investigation into involuntary discharge practices by a company that operates eight assisted living facilities throughout southern New Jersey.

Last month, Public Advocate Ronald K. Chen's office reached out to 538 current and former residents of Assisted Living Concepts (ALC) facilities located in southern New Jersey asking them if they had any concerns about the company's discharge practices.

Of the 538 letters sent out, 258 individuals responded.  Of those, 122 indicated that they wish to be contacted as part of the investigation. Many of these individuals indicated that they or their family members experienced forced discharges because of ALC’s stated policy to no longer accept patients who have spent all of their private resources and are now on Medicaid. 

“I am so relieved to know someone is out there to help,” said a relative of a former resident of Goldfinch House in Bridgeton. “There was no excuse to send a letter of eviction to this client by Assisted Living Concepts. It really upset an elderly person in compromised health.” 

Others alleged  that some ALC facilities accepted people with the understanding that they would end up on Medicaid once they exhausted their savings, knowing full well that the individual would still have monthly income that is too high to qualify for Medicaid. 

“There is no doubt in my mind that we were lied to five years ago,” stated the son of a former resident of Lindsay House in Pennsville. “They knew his income exceeded the threshold for assisted living Medicaid yet they took him and every cent he has anyway. So five years and a quarter of a million dollars later my father’s funds are exhausted and he is being kicked to the curb.”

Still others complained that ALC facilities refused to rebate down payments – used to hold a room for short periods of time – to the families of people who died before they could ever move in or to individuals they subsequently decided were not appropriate for assisted living and refused to admit.

“I would really like to know how many deposits they have received to ‘hold a bed’ for a patient they never take in nor did they have any intention of taking in ,” wrote the daughter-in-law of a woman who was supposed to transfer to Goldfinch House from a rehabilitation program in 2006.  When the woman was ready to move into Goldfinch House, the facility allegedly declined to accept her and refused to refund a $2,800 down payment, according to her daughter-in-law.

On May 28, the Public Advocate filed a complaint and supporting motion and affidavits in Superior Court seeking to enforce a subpoena served on Assisted Living Concepts requesting the names and addresses of all former and current residents of ALC facilities dating back to 2006.

That request was granted by a Superior Court judge on June 17 and Assisted Living Concepts provided 538 names to the Public Advocate in early July. Of the names received, 262 were people who still reside in ALC facilities and 276 are people who are no longer living in an ALC facility.

ALC is a Wisconsin-based company which owns and operates 8 assisted living facilities in New Jersey including: Baker House in Vineland, Goldfinch House in Bridgeton and Maurice House in Millville, all in Cumberland County; Lindsay House in Pennsville, Salem County; Mey House in Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County; Chapin House in Rio Grande, Cape May County; Granville House in Burlington, Burlington County; and Post House in Glassboro, Gloucester County.

The 122 affirmative responses received so far are illustrated in the chart below:

Responses from Former Residents, Current Residents and Their Families/ POA of the 122 Responses DPA Has Received

 




The Public Advocate is investigating allegations that ALC is involuntarily discharging elderly residents, or threatening them with discharge once they have exhausted all of their own funds, or "spent down" their life savings, and therefore qualify for Medicaid payments to cover the cost of remaining in their assisted living apartment. The Advocate is also supporting legislation sponsored by Senator Jeff Van Drew that would require facilities to set aside beds for people on Medicaid and would not allow the involuntarily discharge of residents on Medicaid.

Chen said that the Certificates of Need and Licenses issued by the Department of Health and Senior Services for all eight of ALC’s assisted living residences in New Jersey provided that as many as 30 percent of residents would be Medicaid eligible and that no resident would be discharged because they had spent down their savings and qualified for Medicaid.

Chen said that interviews will be arranged with all of the residents or family members who have agreed to participate in the investigation. These interviews have already begun and will continue through September.  Individuals who wish to contact the Public Advocate to convey any concerns they have about ALC’s discharge practices can contact DPA’s Office of Elder Advocacy at 609-826-5053.   

Below are additional comments from people who have responded to the DPA survey:

• “We were told that she wouldn’t have to leave because she was in a Medicaid Room/Apartment,” said the daughter of a former resident of Granville House in Burlington who was forced to move into a nursing home. “They have other tenants in wheelchairs and on oxygen in worse shape than my mom but look what happened to her: nursing home!”

• “Policies of the facility forced my mother to move. It was a very bad situation,” said the son of a former resident of Chapin House in Rio Grande.

• “If it becomes necessary, we want and she wants to stay at the Mey House,” said the niece of a resident of Mey House in Egg Harbor Township. ”She has paid a great deal of money to the Mey House so far and if her money runs out …. We fully expect her to be able to remain there.”

• “When I witnessed the poor woman across the hall being evicted, I swore to myself that they were not going to do that to my Dad when his money ran out,” said the daughter of a former resident of Maurice House in Millville.  

• “I was still paying cash when I left but I received a letter saying that when I ran out of cash I would be moved out – and the care wasn’t good,” said a former resident of Baker House in Vineland, who was forced to move into a senior apartment.
  
• “Post House told us that my mother-in-law had to move out because they would not accept Medicaid,” of the Glassboro ALC facility.  When we found a facility she could into right away and get Medicaid, Post House told us she had to give a 30 day notice and private pay – they refused to waive the 30 day notice even though they told us they wouldn't accept Medicaid as we thought previously they would.”.
  
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