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Senior Living with Assistance – What you Need to Know

Written by Posted On Wednesday, 26 September 2018 10:05
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Taking care of your aging parent is a huge commitment. It is quite understandable if you can’t do this on your own, considering your busy lifestyle and hectic schedule. This is why there are assisted living facilities for seniors. Nevertheless, there are a number of things you need to know about senior living communities for the elderly, before you make your decision.

You may not find doctors on site

Assisted living communities usually do not have doctors on their staff. Some may have registered nurses; but not all. Nursing homes, on the other hand, would be a better option if you need medical assistance for your parent on a constant basis. These setups will have nursing staff that are supervised by a medical director. However, even here, the doctors are on call only; not at the location.

Price increases on a yearly basis and fees are charged

The base rents in assisted living communities keep increasing on a yearly basis due to inflation. Most such communities charge extra fees for the services that they provide. This could relate to local transportation, meal delivery, or medication management. Reading the contract carefully will help you understand the kind of fees you may have to pay and what you can expect in future in terms of rent increase. Nevertheless, the good news is that you can still negotiate.

You will still have to pay bills

If you are signing the contract on behalf of your aging parent, you will be taking over the responsibility of paying the bills, if your parent runs out of money. If you don’t want to pay these bills you will have to make your senior as the responsible party and sign as an acting agent by way of power of attorney.

Assisted living communities can ask seniors to leave, at anytime

You paying the rent and the bills regularly doesn’t mean your parent will have a permanent place at the assisted living community. The community can ask its residents to leave at any time if it is not able to care for their needs. Read the contract carefully for the conditions that could make the community take such actions against its residents.

Not all assisted living communities may like to take Medicaid

As per rule assisted living communities have to accept Medicaid. But most don’t follow this rule. Accepting Medicaid would mean not being able to turning down people. Also the money that these communities get from Medicaid is far lesser than what they can get from residents who pay out of their pockets.

Also there are a certain number of beds that assisted living communities should allocate to residents who pay through Medicaid. Once these beds are filled up, they have the right to decline Medicaid. If your parent is about to be Medicaid eligible in a few months from now, it is better to give an advance warning to the assisted living facility.

There are many assisted living facilities that might suit your needs. Nevertheless, it is always better to know everything that is to know about them before deciding on the best one.

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Narendra Sharma

Naren is an interior designer and real estate expert. I’m grateful everyday to my wonderful clients who have entrusted me with their homes.

www.amarillorealestateguide.com/

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