What to do if you can't afford Memory Care?

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What to do if you can't afford Memory Care?

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My mom has moderate Alzheimer's. She is very aware that something is wrong with her. Has no short term memory. Gait is painstakingly slow. She does not wander. She has lived with me for 2 years. She will be moving to an Assisted Living facility on November 2nd. At this facility they have told me that she would not need to be transferred to a Nursing Home. She is on Hospice but not near to dying. I see a lot of posts where the LO had to be moved to MC. This place has a MC but she would not be able to afford it. She has an income of $2,000 a month but MC is about $4 ,500 a month. Just wondering what I would do if she did start to wander and they tell me they can't keep her. This concerns me. What do other people do? Just move them back home? Or would they be eligible for Nursing Home with an Alzheimer's diagnosis?

Memory Care Moderate Dementia Paying for Care

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Wow, this sounds unusual in that her $2000 will cover the cost of assisted living. That is very inexpensive. Around where I live it is at least 3 times that. Anyway, no, you wouldn't move her back home if they told you they can't keep her UNLESS you want to and are able to take on the responsibility of 24 hour care of her. They would need to discharge her to a safe place for her to be. Please read over the admission paperwork carefully so you don't sign anything that may hold you personally liable for any added costs.

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I bet the $2,000 is a base rate with lots of add-ons for any type of assistance.

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Normally people living in an AL facility won't be transferred to a nursing home unless they run out of money or require the higher level of care a NH offers. Ask the AL director under what conditions would your mom be discharged. Sometimes that's in the contract and sometimes it's not, so ask. I'm surprised she is on hospice. You haven't said a lot, but she seems fairly functional yet. Does she have any assets that could be converted to cash? If she won't be able to afford MC, she won't be able to afford private pay nursing home. She would have to apply for medicaid. Medicaid, however, doesn't pay for private pay AL or MC. She could apply for a medicaid waiver but that only pays for the cost of care, not room and board. (Oops! She's already on hospice so that wouldn't make sense). The issue then, once she is accepted for medicaid, would be to find a NH with an MC bed available. There would probably be a waiting period.

There are some other ways to pay for care facilities. If she qualifies for medicaid, that would pay for MC in a NH. If your father, or she, was a veteran, she may be eligible for financial aid thru the VA. Call them. Does your mom have any life insurance? If so, she can sell the policy to a settlement company and obtain cash for it. Also, some policies have an accelerated death benefit where the owner can cash in part of the face value of the policy if the need meets the contract requirements.

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The nursing home will accommodate her or they will find a facility who will. As you know already they take her monthly income and any assets she may have. When her assets have been spent down, they will put her on Medicaid and that will pay the remainder of her expense at the nursing home that her monthly income does not cover. This might sound harsh, but I'll tell you the truth. Don't let her come back home because if you do she will be out of the system and you will have a hard time trying to get her placement somewhere. The facility she's in now will handle her needs one way or another. Don't let her come back home. It is commonplace for nursing homes and other elder care facilities to use tactics and tricks designed to intimidate family members into thinking that they are personally financially responsible for their LO care costs out of their own pockets. This is a shakedown to try and maximize what they can collect. You are not responsible. Do not let them intimidate you.

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Sound advice :)

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Have you discussed this worry with the facility?

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Under normal circumstances (pre-covid), I'd be one of the FIRST here to say "put her in AL." But these are not normal times.

If I were in your shoes, IF she is fairly easy going and not wandering off, sundowning, or being combative, I'd continue having her live with me for a few more months. Just my opinion.

If she is becoming hard to handle, then AL or MC.

Also, I have not had to deal with a loved one in MC for several years, but it used to be that MC was tax deductible as a medical expense. Check into that.

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Many find that Board and Care smaller homes work well in these instances. We have got more used to larger facilities, but cost for Memory Care moves in California in bay area are more like 20,000 a month. Most cannot afford such a thing. Smaller Board and Care homes often have fewer residents and more careful one on one watching in a smaller area but with separate rooms for sleeping. Wishing you good luck.

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Have you discussed with Assisted Living what your mom needs to be able to do independently? They are good with dispensing meds, and dealing with mobility issues such helping with showers, or dressing and of course laundry/housekeeping. But Alzheimer's comes with progressive issues.
With limited short term memory can she: remember her room location, independently read and understand the activity calendar and get herself to the appropriate room at the correct time to participate? Can she choose a meal from a menu without much help, find the dining room, remember the dining times? Can she turn her TV on ? Does she remember the virus issues and is able to remember to mask outside her apartment, and understand why you cant visit as usual? With all the covid restrictions, staff is stretched thin, so extra help is limited.
As other people have mentioned, $2000 is an exceptional price.
My mom's AL was base price 4000 + a care cost which varied based on need.( They evaluated residents every 3 months . Care level 1,2, etc) so your cost would change as your needs increased. They had their nurse evaluation there or cognitive and had her PCP fax over a medical questionnaire and med needs.
She is now in memory care where the base price 5000 + care cost
For her AL when she first moved in was about $4400, now in Memory care is $6900.
Luckily although this journey has been a challenge especially with covid, my parents planned ahead with LTC insurance and decent retirement savings, so we are ok there.

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I Will be talking with them about a care plan in the next couple of weeks.The price of the companion room was $2,500. I asked if the could come down to $2,300. They did. I have already cashed in all of her little life insurance policies. So now she has a total of $30,000. I kept one life insurance with the funeral home. The $30,000 is all she has. The $2,000 a month that she gets is from Social Security. So every month I will have to take money out of the $30,000. To make the room payment. If she outlived her money I will apply for Medicaid and maybe by that time she will need to go into nursing home. I have had her on a couple of waiting lists for nursing homes that take Medicaid. The $2,300 is an all inclusive price. They do not have level of care. When she lived in PA. The companion room at the Assisted Living was only $1,700. It was a beautiful facility. I decided to move her closer to me. I lived 650 miles from her and wanted her closer to me. My mom had been paying for a LTC policy and she cancelled it. Thank you for youf reply.

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U have to spend all assets first . Medicaid Never pays private care / MEMORY CARE/ ASSISTED LIVING

ASK A NURSING HOME THEIR RULES

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This is factually incorrect. Medicaid in many states covers memory care. In some states it covers assisted living and in some states it covers PART of the cost of assisted living

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Those who have money have to spend every dime ... THOSE awho HAD money ??? family spent their money 6 years prior 🤷‍♀️MEDICAID TOOK OVER 😁

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All about how u work the system 🤷‍♀️

I hate those that take advantage .

What to do if you can't afford Memory Care?

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