Assisted living costs are rising

from Senior Life - Allen County Edition - June 2023

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The ever-expanding availability of senior living accommodations is including the full array of services — independent and assisted living as well as memory care — making it increasingly difﬁcult to determine how to get more bang for your buck.

Does a clubhouse and golf course outweigh the value of an in-house pharmacy and health care staff? Is it smarter to go for the lower priced independent living quarters than the costlier full-service facility?

Zeroing in on assisted living facilities, the search for the right senior living option wades through a wide variety of contracts, services and fees.

Many assisted living communities have a community movein fee that normally ranges from $1,000 to $5,000 and can be paid up front or prorated over several months. Pricing is usually broken down into rent and services. Rent pays for your apartment, the cost of which will vary depending on size and location. Services typically include three meals a day, housekeeping, transportation, activities and the level of personal assistance you need.

For example, you may need 15 minutes help with medication management, 15 minutes with dressing and 30 minutes with meals each day. That’s one hour of care per day at the community’s stated rate. Someone else may need three hours of care and would pay more.

If you or your loved one needs memory care, or may need it in the future, ﬁnd out what the additional fee will be for that care.

Some communities offer bundled packages based on your need rather than charging for the amount of time it takes to deliver the various services.

Others have a ﬂat fee for the monthly package, which means everyone pays the same regardless of the amount of services they use.

Assisted living costs depend on the community you choose, size of your apartment, number of services you need and what part of the country you live in.

One national survey indicates the median monthly cost for assisted living is $4,500, which breaks down to around $148 per day and $54,000 per year. To put that into some context, the same survey says a private room in a nursing home will cost around $9,034 a month, which is $297 per day or $108,405 per year. Home health aide services average $154 per

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IN HOME CARE:

• Companionship

• Housekeeping

• Hygiene

• Errands

• Cooking

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• Laundry day, or $56,160 per year, based on an eight-hour day, ﬁve days a week.

• And More!

Many people believe assisted living is covered by Medicare. Almost 60% of people surveyed said they plan to rely on Medicare to help pay for any senior care they might need. While your personal health insurance coverage and pharmaceutical coverage continues after relocating to a community, Medicare typically doesn’t pay for assisted living.

The same survey found that 61% of respondents thought they would rely on Social Security to cover assisted living or other long-term care costs. The average monthly Social Security payment covers only a small portion of those costs.

Most assisted living residents pay for the service from their personal resources, with help from coverage provided by longterm care insurance, and often with ﬁnancial assistance from their adult children. Mature

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