| Nursing Home Abuse Legal Glossary
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Battery: The unlawful use of force
resulting in the injury of another. Battery always includes assault.
Bedsore: A pressure-induced skin
ulceration involving the death of living tissue and sometimes deep
muscular infection and penetration of internal organs. Bedsores occur
during long confinements in bed when there is prolonged pressure on an
area of the body that has a bony prominence and a thin covering of
flesh, like the tailbone, heals, elbows, and shoulder blades. Bedsores
are also known as pressure sores and decubitus ulcers.
Beneficiary: In the context of
Medicare and Medicaid programs, the name for the person who has
insurance through Medicare or Medicaid.
Benefit Period: The manner in
which Medicare measures a beneficiaries use of hospital and skilled
nursing facility services. The benefit period begins the day the
beneficiary is admitted to the hospital or skilled nursing facility and
ends when 60 days go by without hospital or skilled nursing care. The
number of benefit periods a beneficiary can have is unlimited.
Benefits: In health plans,
benefits are the health care that a person receives. In the insurance
context, benefits are the money or services provided by an insurance
policy.
Brief: Written document prepared
by an attorney and submitted to the court about a case, containing
summaries of the facts of the case, relevant laws, and an argument
showing how the laws support that party's position.
Burden of Proof or Standard of Proof:
Degree of proof required in a specific kind of case to prevail. In the
majority of civil cases, it is proof by a preponderance of the evidence.
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