Re: Re: Assisted Care Info Needed/Jan

[Guest guest]

Hi Jan,

My husband would stay in Assisted Living Facilities ALF when I took respite for

a week each year.

You need to look for ones that have a dementia unit, not all do. The ALFs where

my husband would stay had locked hallways with combinations to get in and out.

Each person had their own room and there were sensory movement detectors in the

room, so if a person got out of bed or was roaming in their room, they could see

it from the nurse's station. His CNA would go to his room and get him for all

meals and bring him to the dining room and she/he would dress him and toilet him

and bring him to activities.

ALF have nurses only to give medications. There are no doctors on staff. They

are only allowed to give perscribed medications that the patient already has. I

always felt my husband was safe and I didn't have to worry about a doctor

perscribing a medication while I was away and unaware. ALF was affordable for me

for a week away, but for the long term it is very expensive. They range from

$5,000 - $6,000 a mo. generally and Medicaid will not pay for it. They will only

pay where there are doctor's on staff, so in a single care home Medicaid will

not pay either. Medicaid will pay for a skilled nursing home where there are

doctors on staff. I think if your LO has long term insurance that it would pay

for ALF, but I am not 100% sure.

I shopped around and got to know all the ALFs in my area and my husband stayed

at 3 or 4 of them depending which one had a room for him when I was ready to

depart on respite. He got to know them all.

I did the same when I put him in a nh, because I needed Medicaid for the long

term. I believe because my husband was used to staying in an ALF yearly it was

no problem for the transition to a nh when the time came.

I have been very fortunate with my husband and he is in the later phases of LBD,

that he has never had a problem with moving from one place to another. I bring

him home every weekend from the nh and he does fine going back to the nh at the

end of the week too. From what I am reading here this is a rarity.

I hope you find your answers, you may have to visit an Elder Care Attorney and

there are Pro Bono (free) ones that can be found online in your area or in the

phone book, but are mostly found at Senior Community Centers where you can make

an appointment to see one for information. That is what I did in the beginning

to get a direction...........................Jan C.

Re: Assisted Care Info Needed

>

> Well, finally saw the neurologist and got some recommendations. She

feels it

> is time for my mom to consider assisted living. Where do we begin?

How in

> the world do you pay for it? What agencies should I be contacting?

Should I

> look for a large facility or a homelike (as in house) one? I know

she would

> want her own room, this is not going to be easy for her. Does

Medicare help?

> She has Blue Cross and Medicare. Please help, my head is

spinning...I don't

> even know where to begin.

>

> Thank you for the help. I read the list everyday even though I

don't write a

> lot.

>

> Jan

hi jan,

preview places - go into assisted living facilities for the " tour "

but also on the off hours - drop in unexpectedly. same goes for

nursing homes when there is no tour guide. you learn alot.

medicare/medicaid do not pay for assisted living BUT you may be able

to barter the price down. i did that with my father. the price was

$150/day (ugh) and i got them down to $50/day wheeling and dealing. i

wasn't aware of this until AFTER dad ended up in a nursing home that

AL facilities ALL have a few rooms they let go for cheap. can't hurt

to try. dad liked the AL but then he got too confused for his own

safety and ended up having to be hospitalized to find out it was, in

fact, LBD. so now i am learning about the medicare/medicaid stuff.

one strong suggestion...start gathering medicaid information NOW.

find an elder services attorney. it is worth it even though they are

pricey. it can help save some of the assets but also will make sure

they can get state help without having to pay out of pocket in the

nursing home setting when the time comes...good luck. i learned by

the school of hard knocks and still getting knocked! call elder

services, alzheimers association, vna, everybody in the phone book to

see what you can find to help you/your family. blessings, sariana

>

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