Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
More than 50% of assisted living residents have dementia problems. What you are describing is "Independent Living Facility", not an "Assisted Living Facility". An assisted living facility has 24x7 nursing coverage. More than half the residents have medication management because they're not competent to take their prescriptions when they're supposed to. Lots of them have severe mobility problems. Staff has to come and push their wheelchair to everything. Meals. Any activities. Lots get assistance bathing. Some are incontinent. People are in assisted living because they can't possibly live by themselves.
I had to do this with my mom a year ago. She couldn't possibly have stayed in her home. She couldn't remember 10 minutes ago. It was unsafe without having someone there 24x7. I have tons of business travel. My sister has tons of business travel. There was no possible family option. Do the math on the labor costs of 24x7 for 365 days. The home care fee for any service around me is $20/hour and extra for nights & weekends. Assisted living is cheaper.
The definition of Assisted Living varies from state to state and is set by the state. One of the things to consider about LTCi policies is matching the wording with the state it was written in and where you live. That is something we need to be aware of as our policy was written with one states definition in mind and we now live elsewhere.
In order to bridge the gap between states which explicitly use the term "assisted living" and states that do not, we have developed a working framework which delineates several components found in state policy that may be used to differentiate assisted living from board and care models. We are developing a matrix that identifies the components in each state. As a result, some states that use the term assisted living may not in fact meet the framework (Alabama, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Wyoming) and others that do not use the term may be included (Florida). Florida uses the term adult congregate living facility and extended congregate care although legislation is pending that would change the term to assisted living.
DEFINING ASSISTED LIVING
In developing our approach to assisted living, we struggled with a starting point. No one in the long term care field enters a discussion about assisted living without a frame of reference. For many, it's the nursing home and for others a housing setting. We pictured three buildings standing side by side, a single family home, an apartment building and an assisted living site (we prefer to avoid using the term "facility" but have been unable to avoid it). Within each building, an individual with chronic but stable health conditions and dependencies in activities of daily living lives. The person living in their own home can receive skilled nursing care, personal care and a host of other services. Relatives can perform tasks that only a licensed professional can perform if the caregiver were not related. Except in relation to local building codes, government agencies do not consider the condition of the structure. Subject to a rental agreement, a similar person living in an elderly housing project can receive a full range of ADL and nursing services from certified home health agencies and other community providers. If the housing entity provides or arranges for services, and the cost of the service is included in the rent, a license would be needed in most states. For reasons related to the preferences of the housing owner or management company, rental agreements may not allow someone who is incontinent, forgetful or exhibits aggressive behaviors to reside in the project. However, these conditions are not a function of the government's regulation of the building.
This article is dated and times have changed but your policy wording doesn't.
Most folks from our parents and grandparents' generations had no "plan" over long-term care. They didn't expect family to take care of them. Family expected to take care of them. Or they went into an old folks' home/nursing home at a price that middle and lower income residents could afford. Many old folks that I personally knew just grew old at home with their spouse or alone, cobbling together various forms of help.
The healthcare industry has driven this madness propagated on fear. We have this idea now that lots of money and coverage are going to minimize our misery in our final years. Well I've been in one of the poshest ones in my area and saw frail elders alone in wheelchairs parked in the hallways, or sitting alone in parlors. One was sitting alone, all bent over, for at least a half hour in someone's office. An elder in our family was in one of the "best" in Connecticut and twice was discovered collapsed on the floor of her room, one time overnight, in a mess.
The older I get the more I appreciate my crotchety mother. She lived alone till her demise at 91, doing stairs, doing everything on her own except in the final few years her laundry. Sis and I brought her to the markets, but everything else she did herself including meals. Was she "safe"? Maybe not, especially around the stove, and yet in the final analysis she was independent and just overlooked her aches and pains and decided she wanted nobody to do for her. She died naturally and suddenly in her own home.
Not everyone can do that of course. My point is that we boomers tend to have a driving need to protect ourselves against the realities of life and death. We're going to beat old age and suffering no matter how much money it takes. If we can easily do that and want to, that's fine. I would wager though that with the kind of costs looming in the next 10 to 15 years the protection we seek may be out of reach for many.
Most folks from our parents and grandparents' generations had no "plan" over long-term care. They didn't expect family to take care of them. Family expected to take care of them. Or they went into an old folks' home/nursing home at a price that middle and lower income residents could afford. Many old folks that I personally knew just grew old at home with their spouse or alone, cobbling together various forms of help.
The healthcare industry has driven this madness propagated on fear. We have this idea now that lots of money and coverage are going to minimize our misery in our final years. Well I've been in one of the poshest ones in my area and saw frail elders alone in wheelchairs parked in the hallways, or sitting alone in parlors. One was sitting alone, all bent over, for at least a half hour in someone's office. An elder in our family was in one of the "best" in Connecticut and twice was discovered collapsed on the floor of her room, one time overnight, in a mess.
The older I get the more I appreciate my crotchety mother. She lived alone till her demise at 91, doing stairs, doing everything on her own except in the final few years her laundry. Sis and I brought her to the markets, but everything else she did herself including meals. Was she "safe"? Maybe not, especially around the stove, and yet in the final analysis she was independent and just overlooked her aches and pains and decided she wanted nobody to do for her. She died naturally and suddenly in her own home.
Not everyone can do that of course. My point is that we boomers tend to have a driving need to protect ourselves against the realities of life and death. We're going to beat old age and suffering no matter how much money it takes. If we can easily do that and want to, that's fine. I would wager though that with the kind of costs looming in the next 10 to 15 years the protection we seek may be out of reach for many.
Yes, out of the reach for many but within reach for many if they plan and implement years before hand. Sorta like retirement planning at age 30. Some did and some who could have didn't and now oh well! Once burned, twice? That's what I think the OP is urging.
I have a friend in her 30s who is debating getting cancer insurance. WTH???? So she is planning on having cancer, putting money aside for cancer and letting an insurance company profit off her fear of getting cancer.
Why don't people just take care of themselves as they age? ALL of my grandparents and my husband's grandparents died at home, the most recent death? She was 91.
It is absurd that people refuse to take action NOW to prevent most illnesses. But they will gladly throw tons of money at it. Living in fear now and preparing to pay to rot in a home later?? I don't get it.
I have a friend in her 30s who is debating getting cancer insurance. WTH???? So she is planning on having cancer, putting money aside for cancer and letting an insurance company profit off her fear of getting cancer.
Why don't people just take care of themselves as they age? ALL of my grandparents and my husband's grandparents died at home, the most recent death? She was 91.
It is absurd that people refuse to take action NOW to prevent most illnesses. But they will gladly throw tons of money at it. Living in fear now and preparing to pay to rot in a home later?? I don't get it.
Some get it and others don't. Thus some will and others won't!
You figure out what risks, if any, you can afford to mitigate and feel it is worthwhile. Hey, is that a comet headed our way?
Worthwhile for you to pay or others to be taxed to pay for you? That's the real long term issue. Letting others die. People are working around that and opting for yes.
The definition of Assisted Living varies from state to state and is set by the state. One of the things to consider about LTCi policies is matching the wording with the state it was written in and where you live. That is something we need to be aware of as our policy was written with one states definition in mind and we now live elsewhere.
What does that have to do with the obvious difference between "Independent Living" and "Assisted Living" I was writing about? You're not going to find a LTC policy anywhere that would fund what is referred to as Independent Living. People in Independent Living aren't disabled.
What does that have to do with the obvious difference between "Independent Living" and "Assisted Living" I was writing about? You're not going to find a LTC policy anywhere that would fund what is referred to as Independent Living. People in Independent Living aren't disabled.
Absolutely spot on. LTC is when you need help to do daily functions like bathe, transfer (bed to chair and back), cook, dress, make decisions.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
