Soul Sucking Care Pt. 1 - A Love Story

Bill and Jane set out to enjoy the retirement they had worked so hard to build.

But instead of a chapter filled with travel, laughter, and family memories, they were forced into a nightmare that too many Americans experience when they enter the care system.

By the time they engaged our Professional Healthcare Advocacy services, Bill was a shell of the man he had been. He was tethered to high-flow oxygen, a tracheotomy, and a feeding tube. He was bed-ridden, malnourished, and declining rapidly.

And here’s the truth: Bill didn’t need any of those interventions. After reviewing his case with the skilled nursing facility (SNF) care team, it became clear that:

• The feeding tube was unnecessary — he could swallow safely with proper therapy.

• The tracheotomy and high-level oxygen were not medically justified.

• What Bill actually needed was basic care: nutrition, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and dignity.

Instead, Bill had been trapped in a cycle of unnecessary procedures and neglect. Worse yet, the SNF had already exhausted his Medicare coverage and was actively working to attach his personal savings to get paid. This wasn’t care. This was exploitation.

The Legal Landscape

Families need to understand that there are laws governing skilled nursing facilities and the responsibilities they have to patients. Among them:

• The Nursing Home Reform Act (1987) requires facilities to provide services and activities to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident.

• Residents’ Rights under federal law guarantee dignity, self-determination, and the right to be fully informed about care and treatment.

• Medicare and Medicaid Regulations prohibit facilities from billing patients for services that are unnecessary, fraudulent, or not provided.

• State Oversight (in New York, the Department of Health regulates nursing homes) requires safe staffing levels, proper care planning, and patient advocacy.

What happened to Bill is a violation of these principles. It is also a window into how vulnerable patients become targets for profit — their bodies turned into billing codes.

Why This Matters

This isn’t just Bill and Jane’s story. This is happening to families across the country every day. When care becomes a revenue stream, rather than a responsibility, people suffer and families are broken.

Professional Healthcare Advocacy exists to protect families from exactly this kind of exploitation — to demand transparency, ensure proper care planning, and hold facilities accountable under the law.

Because care should never feel soul-sucking. It should restore dignity, hope, and humanity.

That’s why Scroll.care Case Management Services exists — to give families an advocate, a guide, and a shield. We ensure that the laws protecting residents are respected, that care plans are truly about care, and that families like Bill and Jane aren’t left alone to fight a system designed to overwhelm them.

🚨 Call to Action

If you or someone you love is navigating skilled nursing, memory care, or long-term placement — don’t do it alone. Professional Healthcare Advocacy can mean the difference between exploitation and empowerment.

👉 Learn more at Scroll.care or contact us at info@scroll.care.

Because care should never feel soul-sucking. It should restore dignity, hope, and humanity.