Ohio Code 3721.15 – Authorization to handle residents’ financial affairs
(A) Authorization from a resident or a sponsor with a power of attorney for a home to manage the resident’s financial affairs shall be in writing and shall be attested to by a witness who is not connected in any manner whatsoever with the home or its administrator. The home shall maintain accounts pursuant to division (A)(27) of section 3721.13 of the Revised Code. Upon the resident’s transfer, discharge, or death, the account shall be closed and a final accounting made. All remaining funds shall be returned to the resident or resident’s sponsor, except in the case of death, when all remaining funds shall be transferred or used in accordance with section 5162.22 of the Revised Code.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3721.15
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Bond: includes an undertaking. See Ohio Code 1.02
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures; this provision does not affect any law relating to signatures. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
(B) A home that manages a resident’s financial affairs shall deposit the resident’s funds in excess of one thousand dollars, and may deposit the resident’s funds that are one thousand dollars or less, in an interest-bearing account separate from any of the home’s operating accounts. Interest earned on the resident’s funds shall be credited to the resident’s account. A resident’s funds that are one thousand dollars or less and have not been deposited in an interest-bearing account may be deposited in a noninterest-bearing account or petty cash fund.
(C) Each resident whose financial affairs are managed by a home shall be promptly notified by the home when the total of the amount of funds in the resident’s accounts and the petty cash fund plus other nonexempt resources reaches two hundred dollars less than the maximum amount permitted a recipient of medicaid. The notice shall include an explanation of the potential effect on the resident’s eligibility for medicaid if the amount in the resident’s accounts and the petty cash fund, plus the value of other nonexempt resources, exceeds the maximum assets a medicaid recipient may retain.
(D) Except as otherwise provided in section 3.061 of the Revised Code, each home that manages the financial affairs of residents shall purchase a surety bond or otherwise provide assurance satisfactory to the director of health, or, in the case of a home that participates in the medicaid program, to the medicaid director, to assure the security of all residents’ funds managed by the home.