Luther Oaks and Healthy Cells Magazine® are proud to bring you the fourth article in a series from noted author, speaker, and consultant Randalynn Kaye. These articles are designed to help adult children and their senior parents navigate the emotionally charged process of making a lifestyle change as they transition from one stage of life to the next.
In starting your research you need to establish a baseline of information about how our society works regarding care of older adults. So let’s talk for a moment about one of my favorite people…Ethel Mertz. (If you don’t know who Ethel is, ask your parents or grandparents!)
Let’s say that Ethel lives independently in her house and has for many years. If she wanted to, Ethel could move to an independent living retirement community and continue enjoying her independent lifestyle in a more senior-oriented environment. Her path would look like this:
But Ethel has no intention of ever moving. She is fond of saying, “If I leave this house, it’ll be feet first!” So she stays in her home until a major health crisis occurs. Once this happens, the family and doctor say, “Ethel, you can’t live in your house any longer…you simply must move directly to a higher level of care.”
At this point, Ethel will bypass any independent living retirement community option and, in most cases, move directly to Assisted Living. Her path will look like this:
Assisted Living is designed for the person who is not able to live independently, but does not need 24-hour nursing care; it is independent living with assistive services as necessary. Such services will include three meals a day, assistance with bathing and dressing, medication reminders, and more. These are referred to as ADLs, or Activities of Daily Living. The number of ADLs a person needs assistance with will determine the costs and level of service.
For right now, I’m not going into greater detail about assisted living, but you should know one thing…Medicare does NOT pay for the cost of assisted living. Depending on what part of the country Ethel lives in and the level of service needed, she will pay approximately $4,500 to $6,500 per month for assisted living.
If Ethel’s health declines, she will eventually need skilled nursing care. For this she will move to what used to be called a nursing home, though the politically correct term now is a Skilled Nursing Facility. Sometimes referred to as a SNF (“sniff”), this is more of a medical environment. Her path now looks like this:
If Ethel meets the Medicare criteria, a combination of her Medicare insurance and her supplemental health insurance will usually pay for the first 100 days for her care. After the 100 days has expired, Ethel will then have to pay $6,000 – $ 9,000 per month for skilled nursing care. When she has spent down most of her assets, Ethel then applies for Medicaid, which is the state-operated welfare system.
If the health crisis was serious enough to require Ethel to have 24-hour nursing care, she would bypass independent living in a retirement community setting, bypass assisted living, and go directly into a skilled nursing facility.
So there you have it. Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Skilled Nursing Care are the three major components of elder care that shape today’s senior housing market. There are finer details, of course, and missing pieces of the picture for everyone, but keep in mind there are no right or wrong answers about the next step in one’s journey through life…after all, no one has a crystal ball!
Some people are fine staying in their home and peacefully complete that journey on this earth with few or no complications. Others may require years of assisted living or skilled nursing care. It all boils down to a decision about risks and values, which will come to light as you continue your research.
Next month: Paradigms and Perceptions
Randalynn Kaye has worked with and counseled hundreds of people searching various senior lifestyle options. She is actively involved with the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and Life Services Network as well as the Assisted Living Federation of America. She is regularly interviewed for her expertise on issues facing today’s seniors and their families and has been featured as a senior specialist in major media.
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