Patient Trust

Deciding to move a loved one into an assisted living facility or nursing home is never an easy choice. The fact that most long-term care facilities are costly only adds to the stress. Making sure your loved one is properly and lovingly cared for is top priority, but it’s also critical to make sure the assisted living center or nursing home handle finances appropriately.

Thankfully nearly all localities and states require long-term care facilities to obtain patient trust bonds. The Patient Trust Bond ensures that the facility properly manages its patients and their funds. The bond also ensures that the money, if received by the facility to pay a third party, makes it to the third party in an appropriate and timely manner.

The patient trust bond may seem like a type of insurance, this is not the case. The company required to obtain the bond pays for the bond to be issued, if a valid claim is filed against the bond, the company can be required to pay the entire face value of the bond. This is completely different from insurance, with which you pay the premium, and in the event of a claim the insurance company reimburses the wronged party.

Since Patient Trust Bonds are required for all assisted living facilities and nursing homes, you can be rest assured that your loved one’s funds will be handled ethically and lawfully, if there is ever a problem, you do have legal recourse. It is always smart to check with potential facilities to ensure that they are law abiding and are bonded.