In March 2016, Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation, Lawton – A Medicare and Medi-Cal certified nursing home in San Francisco – illegally transferred two residents and sought to transfer two other residents after their Medicare or other insurance coverage ended. Despite being a Medi-Cal certified nursing facility, Lawton staff told representatives for each of the four residents that they would have to move to Oakland to find a nursing home that accepts Medi-Cal for long-term care. The residents and their representatives were not told that they had a right to use Medi-Cal benefits to pay for their care and remain at Lawton.
Lawton transferred one of the residents to an Oakland nursing home on 3/19/16 after telling her family that it was not a long-term care facility and there were no long term care beds available in San Francisco. Her family reported it was a hardship for her spouse to travel from San Francisco to Oakland to visit her and that she was separated from her doctors in San Francisco.
A family member of another resident who was transferred to an Oakland nursing home was unhappy with the process, stating she did not want the resident to go to Oakland and that Lawton did not tell her about Medi-Cal.
The daughter of a third resident reported Lawton told her that her mother must leave the facility; there were no long-term care beds in San Francisco; and her mother must be transferred to an Oakland facility that accepts Medi-Cal or pay privately for her care.
A family member of a fourth resident described being pressured to move the resident to an Oakland facility. She wanted the resident to remain in San Francisco. The family would not have agreed to admission under these conditions but Lawton did not share this information at admission.
In Medicare and Medi-Cal certified skilled nursing facilities, residents on Medi-Cal have the right to transition to Medi-Cal when their Medicare coverage ends. Medi-Cal pays for the resident to stay at the facility.
The California Department of Public Health cited Lawton on June 8, 2016 because its failure to accurately inform 4 of 4 sampled residents regarding its Medi-Cal status resulted in two residents being discharged to an Oakland nursing home when their Medicare coverage ended and two more residents were threatened with illegal transfers.