Being sued by nursing home for medicaid reimbursement

My father passed away last year in a nursing home where I was granted his power of attorney. This was done purely for his sake to establish a system to pay off his debt. He initially entered the home after being hospitalized under his personal insurance, but when the insurance ended, medicaid needed to be applied for in order for the nursing home to receive payment. Because of the complicated nature of a medicaid application, I could not complete the form. Though my mother was alive, she did not participate in ANY WAY. Usually with medacaid, the spouse is required to be invovled in the process, but this was not the case. (she barely took the phone calls of the nursing home representititives). To ensure payment, legal action was taken by the nursing home. The Courts deemed my father mentally incapacitated and I was removed as his power of attorney. My fathers only income was SS and pension which was direct deposited into his account, and paid his monthly bills automatically (i.e. credit cards, loans, etc. ). Before the nursing home had a chance to complete the application, my father passed away in the nursing home. Almost a year later I am being sued by the nursing home for not turning over his monthly income to the nursing home ($29,000 over the course of 15 months). I DID NOT COMPLETE THE MEDICAID FORM and did not sign any other documents promising payment to the nursing home. Do they have a legal premise to sue me or are they just trying to recover funds any way possible

They can try to sue you only if you kept income that was supposed to be turned over to them. You need to get a formal opinion on how that legally was to be handled based on all the details at the time. Otherwise they have no valid claim.

They can only sue you if you agreed in writing to pay them. Regardless of medicaid, your father's estate is what should be being sued by them, not you. Are you his Personal Representative? Did he leave a Will or a Trust?

Legally, you are not responsible for the bills your father incurred while he was living. Why they are suing you and not your father's estate is a mystery.

Did you actually receive a notice to sue from them or are the simply threatening? They will try every stunt in the book to get paid. The health field isn't about compassion anymore. It's about big bucks.. Compassion as a reason to enter the field disappeared back with little house on the prairie.