November 10, 2025 • 43 mins
Listen in as host Steve Kuker, President of Senior Care Consulting, discusses a little known benefit called the VA Aid and Attendance Benefit including how to qualify and how much it pays per month. This valuable benefit helps veterans and surviving spouses pay for the high cost of senior care. Then Steve discusses the seasonal demand for all senior care and encourages you to get out ahead of the annual peak demand. #SeniorCare #SeniorCareLive #SeniorCareConsulting #SeniorLiving #KansasCitySeniorCare #SeniorCarePlacement #SeniorCareAdvisor #Franchise #SeniorCareFranchise (800) 331-6445
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Are you caring for an aging loved one? Are you
a senior searching for answers? Welcome to Senior Care Live,
a program dedicated to you, providing information, education and resources
for seniors and their caregivers. And now America's Senior Care Consultant,
Steve Keecker.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hello and welcome to Senior Care Live. I'm Steve Keeker.
You're Senior Care Consultant, and I really appreciate you tuning
in today. We have a wonderful program, an important program
for you. Here today we're going to recognize and honor
our veterans because coming right up this Tuesday the eleventh
is Veterans Day, and every sometime right around Veterans Day
(00:48):
every year I take that opportunity first and foremost to
say thank you, thank you so much for your service.
We wouldn't have anything, we wouldn't have a country, we
wouldn't have anything without you, So thank you very very much.
And I always take this opportunity to talk about a
little known benefit called the VA Aid and Attendance Benefit,
(01:14):
and it is for veterans and their surviving spouses. So
I want to just unpack that today. Every single time
I set down with one of our senior care consulting clients.
One of the first questions I ask is are you
a veteran or was your spouse a veteran? Is your
spouse a veteran? We go through all of that. If
(01:36):
the answer is yes, that we start to unpack that
because I think there are tens of thousands and maybe
hundreds of thousands of veterans who could qualify for this
benefit and they literally just don't know anything about it.
So I always discuss that with my clients a senior
care consulting. Today, I'm going to unpack it for you.
(01:58):
So the VA Aid and Attendance Benefit what it is.
It's financial assistance to help veterans and again their surviving
spouses pay for the cost of senior care. It's very
very specific. So if you're a veteran, you're doing well,
you're retired, and you're healthy, et cetera, Like, Hey, I
(02:21):
want to sign up for that and have that money
come in. Well, that's not this type of a benefit.
You have to actually need care, be paying for care,
and then they will pay for that. They'll they'll pay
a certain amount for that. So that's what this is
all about. You must require help with at least two
activities of daily living, and I'll give you the list
(02:42):
here in just a moment. There is a service requirement,
and we have a financial criteria requirement. So there, let's
just unpack all of this, okay. So, and none of
this is difficult, And if you have questions, give me
a call. I'll be glad to answer or any questions
for you. Also, you could circle back and check out
(03:05):
the podcast. I usually we turned this radio broadcast into
a podcast, usually the Monday or Tuesday after the broadcast,
so you could also go back and re listen to
that as well. Okay. So the service requirement at least
ninety consecutive days of active duty, okay, So most folks
(03:29):
that I know signed up for a four year term. Okay,
and it could be shorter than that, but at least
ninety consecutive days of active duty, at least one single day,
at least one day during a period of war, okay.
And then not dishonorably discharged. So you know, most discharges,
(03:54):
it's an honorable discharge, but there could be medical discharges
in there are a lot of other types of discharges. Not
dishonorably discharged okay, And let me say this. I've had
so many people say, well, yeah, I mean dad served
during war, but you know, I mean he was in
San Diego or he was in you know, a state
(04:14):
side with a like a logistics type of a role,
and he wasn't he didn't carry a rifle, he wasn't
in the theater of battles. So that's okay, that's okay.
I mean you could have been in Okinawa, you know,
guarding the base there. You could have been anywhere in
the world, including the United States, in some sort of
(04:37):
a support type of a role, at least one day
during a period of war while you were signed up
to be active duty, and you've served it, and you've
served at least ninety consecutive days of active duty, so
hopefully that makes sense, all right. The financial requirement. So
a lot of people say, well, I think my income's
(04:58):
too high. Well don't don't bank on that, okay. So
your income, if your income is less than the cost
of care, that would trigger the maximum payout, the maximum benefit.
Let me give you an example. Well, Steve, I mean
I have an income. It's pretty solid. It's about three
(05:20):
thousand dollars a month coming in, but we're paying about
six thousand dollars a month for a home care provider,
or we're paying about seven thousand dollars a month for
an assisted living community. Okay, Well, in that case, your income,
which is you know, a nice three thousand dollars a month,
it's less than what you're paying out for the cost
of care. So don't automatically assume anything. Just check check
(05:45):
on the details here. Liquid assets, now, this is one
that we do need to check on. So we're looking
at We're not looking at your car, in your house
and all the stuff in your house. We're looking at
liquid assets, checking savings, money market, mutual fund, CDs, all
of the stuff. Okay. So the number at for twenty
(06:06):
twenty five is one hundred and fifty nine thousand, two
hundred and forty dollars, And obviously that goes up a
little bit every year, and I think they usually bump
that up in December. I don't think it waits till January.
I think it bumps up in December. But anyway, I'll
let you know what the new number is for twenty
(06:28):
twenty six when it's released. But for twenty twenty five,
one hundred and fifty nine thousand, two hundred forty dollars.
So that means if you have liquid assets at that
number or below, then you could check the box of
meeting that financial requirement. Now, Steve, you know what if
I have one hundred and eighty thousand dollars, that's okay,
(06:50):
pay for your care and once you get down, spend
that down to one hundred and fifty nine thousand, two
hundred and forty dollars or less, then you can check
them and you would you would meet that particular financial criteria.
And then there is a three year look back. So
similar to medicaid, medicaids a five year lookback, there is
(07:10):
a three year look back. So if you have you know,
five hundred thousand dollars and then last week you gave
away you know, four hundred thousand dollars of it, you
made a gift to four hundred thousand, oh well see
if I only have one hundred thousand dollars of liquid
assets left, well, that's that's not working. Okay, don't do that.
Don't try to game the system. This is for veterans
(07:31):
and surviving spouses who qualify and who need the help here. Okay,
So there is a three year look back, and they're
looking for gifts at that point, just like they would
for the medicaid program. Okay. And then the activities of
daily living. So what this is is you must require
(07:54):
assistance with at least two activities of daily living. And
so I'll give you the the VA's list of six
that they're looking for, and we're looking at bathing. So
if you if you require assistance with your bathing or showering, okay,
and maybe minimal assistance. It could be you know, full assistance.
(08:18):
But that's that's one of them. If you need help
getting dressed and undressed, that's another one. Mobility and transferring.
Maybe someone needs to help you move from point A
to point B, maybe walk with you with with your walker,
or maybe help you in your wheelchair for longer distances.
That that would be the mobility part of it. And
(08:39):
then the transferring part, helping you maybe out of bed
to your wheelchair, in and out of the shower, on
and off of the of the toilet, in and out
of your of your recliner chair. Okay, So that's help transferring,
and that's the mobility part of it. Eating, so if
you need help eating, that's another one. And then toileting,
and and that's that's pretty self ex pretty self explanatory,
(09:05):
right there. So if you require assistance with at least
two of these bathing, dressing, mobility, and transferring, they lump
those together, eating and toileting. If you need help with
two of those, boom, we just checked a box. Okay,
so and well, Steve, I mean I'm not sure about that.
(09:27):
We're going to move to assist a living or we
have a home care provider coming in to help us out.
All right, Well, that's great. If you are paying for
care either a home care provider to come in, you
could easily check a couple of those boxes. And if
you move to assist a living, you can absolutely definitely
(09:48):
check a couple of those boxes because they're going to
help you with at least two of those things. And
if if you didn't need help with two of those things,
then you probably don't need home care and you probably
don't need and this is the living community. Does that
make sense? So anyway, today the theme is just recognizing
our veterans, thank you so much for your service. We're
(10:09):
talking about the Vaaid and Attendants benefit, and coming up next,
I'm going to have the date of the period of
war and then the big payoff. What does this program pay?
But first, Senior Care Live Question of the Week. If
you were married to a veteran but then got divorced,
you will still qualify for the Vaaid and attendance benefit
(10:33):
as the surviving spouse. Is that statement true or false?
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (10:42):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. For more information, visit Seniorcare Live dot com.
We'll have more with Steve coming up next.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Welcome back. You're listening to Senior Care Live on the
Senior Care Broadcasting Network. For more information, visit Seniorcare Live
dot com. Now back to the Senior Care Live Question
of the week. This is a good one too. All Right,
here we go. If you were married to a veteran
but then got divorced, you will still qualify for the
(11:28):
VA Aid and attendance benefit as the surviving spouse. Is
estate matrue or false? And the answer is false? The
answer is false? Well, Steve, what do you mean? I
(11:49):
put up with my husband for a long time, and
we moved all over the place, and I was stuck
with the kids, and I got really good at packing
and unpacking, and yes, thank you and thank you for
your support. Because I'll tell you what spouse is of
a veteran. They did they carried a very heavy load
while the veteran was serving his or her country. So
(12:13):
it's a really big deal. But for the purposes of
qualifying for the Vaaid and Attendance benefit, divorce severs the
flow of that benefit. Now, I've met a lot of
people who divorced a veteran, they got remarried and their
new spouse is or was a veteran. And then so
(12:36):
the bottom line is, if you're married to a veteran
and then that veteran passes away while you're still married
and you need care, and you can check all of
these other boxes, then there is a surviving spouse amount
a benefit that flows to you. I'll get to that
here in just a second. Hopefully that was just as
(12:56):
clear as mutt. So all right, so we're talking about
the Vaaid and Attendance benefit today. Thank you, Thank you
so much for all of our veterans. God bless you,
God bless your families. The Veterans Day is Tuesday, November
the eleventh. A lot of cool ceremonies. One of the
(13:17):
things that's really cool. This is just a Kansas City thing.
But you're driving down I thirty five heading north, and
like for like a half a mile along the side
of the highway there are thousands of flags that are
stuck in the grass that's going up kind of on
the banks on each side.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
It is.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
It is stunning. I love it every every year. It's
just a beautiful thing. And we have a grocery store
here locally High v They offer all veterans a free
breakfast and they clear out like the whole front of
the entire store, and they set up all these tables.
They have this big buffet and all the veterans come
in and it's a lot of camaraderie. It's so cool.
(13:56):
So any anyway, I'm getting off track here, but I
just think I love all of that. It's fantastic. So
all right, So with the vaaid and attendance benefit, So
there's a financial requirement, there is a care requirement, and
then there's a service requirement. So remember I said ninety
consecutive days of active duty. At least one of those
(14:18):
days during a period of war. Okay, so let me
give you some dates. So for World War two, December seventh,
nineteen forty one. Of course, all the way through December
the thirty first, nineteen forty six. These are the dates
(14:39):
that would make a person eligible to receive this particular benefit. Okay,
Korean War June twenty seventh, nineteen fifty all the way
through January thirty first, nineteen fifty five. And then Vietnam.
(15:00):
And I'm working with some of our younger clients with
senior care consulting and starting to help with placement services
for some of our veterans who served in the Vietnam War.
And this one has a little bit of a catch.
So all veterans serving in Vietnam War August fifth, nineteen
sixty four, all the way through May seventh, nineteen seventy five.
(15:27):
And remember, for all of these date ranges that I
just provided, you could have been stateside in a logistic
or some type of a support role. And maybe you
never carried a rifle, maybe you never shot a rifle.
You were not in the theater of war. However, Vietnam
(15:49):
has a little bit of an asterisk. If you had
boots on the ground in the Vietnam War, your date
backs up all the way to February the twenty eighth,
nineteen sixty one. So again boots on the ground you
(16:10):
served in Vietnam, and again boots on the ground February
twenty eight, nineteen sixty one. If you did not have
boots on the ground for Vietnam War, your date starts
August to fifth, nineteen sixty four, and then again all
the way through May seventh, nineteen seventy five. So if
(16:30):
you're missing some of this trying to take notes, you
can't remember it, you can go back and listen to
the podcast, or just give me a call. I'll be
happy to provide this information for you. All right. So
here's the payoff the VAAD and attendance benefit. This is
the reimbursement. I'm out for twenty twenty five. Of course
that'll go up for twenty twenty six. I don't have
those numbers yet. For a single veteran, a single veteran
(16:54):
could receive a maximum of two thousand, three hundred and
fifty eight dollars every month as a thank you for
your service. The surviving spouse of a veteran who has
passed would receive a maximum of one thousand, five hundred
and fifteen dollars per month, and then those are the
(17:20):
two main ones. Married veteran a maximum of twenty seven
ninety five. The two main categories that I deal with
with my firm senior care consulting would be the surviving
spouse or a single veteran okay, who may have lost
their spouse. They give you a quick example. Well, Steve,
I mean that's nice and everything, but I don't know
(17:41):
does that make that big of a difference. Well, let
me let me show you this. This is this is
a pretty good example. So let's say we have a
veteran without the benefit. He has one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars in liquid assets, income is three thousand dollars
a month, moved into an assisted living facility costing seven
(18:02):
thousand dollars a month, So we're short by four thousand
dollars a month, right, because our cost is seven are
incomes three, So we're short by four thousand dollars. Without
the VA Aid and attendants benefit, his money will last
for thirty seven months, about three years, and then he's
out of money and then he's going to have to
(18:23):
qualify for Medicaid at that point and probably most likely
have to move out of his assistant living apartment into
long term care to qualify for that and qualify for
Medicaid with the va Aid and Attendance benefit. Listen to
this drastic difference. The same veteran one hundred and fifty
(18:45):
thousand dollars of assets income of three thousand a month,
now we also get to add to our income two thousand,
three hundred and fifty eight dollars a month because that's
the Vaaid and Attendants Benefit. So now our new income
is five and three hundred and fifty eight dollars. Our
system living costs seven thousand dollars, So instead of being
(19:06):
short by four thousand, we're only short by one thousand,
six hundred and forty two dollars. And our one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars of assets will last us for
ninety one months over twice over twice. That extends your
length of stay in this very realistic calculation here from
(19:27):
about three years to over seven and a half years.
It makes a huge difference. And coming up next, I'm
going to tell you where you can get some help
applying for the va Aid and Attendance Benefit.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. Have a question, visits Seniorcare Live dot com.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Stick around.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
We'll have more with Steve coming up next. A recent
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Speaker 2 (20:32):
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(20:55):
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Speaker 2 (21:06):
Welcome back, you're listening to Senior Care Live on the
Senior Care Broadcasting Network. For podcasts of the program, visit
Seniorcare live dot com or wherever you get your podcasts
and we're on. I don't know. I think most of
the major platforms out there. Just go to the search
bar type in Senior Care Live and you should be
(21:27):
able to find it. All. Right, So we're talking about
the vaaid and Attendance Benefit today. Thank you veterans, Thank
you so much for your service and your sacrifice, and
thank you to your families because the families also do
their fair share so that you can defend us and
protect our freedom. And we can't thank you enough. There's
(21:50):
nothing we could do other than just to show our
appreciation and just quite literally say thank you very very much.
So THEAID an Attendance Benefit, it's for a veteran or
the surviving spouse of a deceased veteran. It's a thank
you for your service. We talked about all of the qualifications. Well, Steve,
how do we go about applying for this? So you
(22:14):
can go to I mean, you can call your local
VA and you can go about it that way. What
I recommend all of my clients do is to contact
the national headquarters of the VFW. The the national headquarters
of VFW happens to be right downtown in Kansas City, Missouri.
(22:36):
Here's the phone number that will cut that will get
you straight in to the aid and the Aid and
Attendance Benefit assistance area of of that of the VFW
headquarters eight one six, nine six, eight one one five
three eight one six nine six eight one one five three.
If that happens to be busy, If there are any
(22:58):
issues without whatsoever, let me give you the VFW main
phone number eight one six seven five six three three
nine zero and just let them know that you need
help filling out the application for the VA Aid and
Attendance Benefit. It's free of charge. They will help you
do that. You don't have to be a member of
(23:18):
the VFW. I've had Ron Cherry, great guy, he's veteran
service officer on the program several times before and he said, Hey,
we're here to serve veterans and their families and just
just talk to us and if we can help you,
we will help. So it's a it's a great, great opportunity.
It's something that now you know about and if you
(23:40):
even think you might qualify for that, I would definitely
reach out and try to get some help filling out
that application. I don't know how far behind they are
and processing these things. It could be you know, a
couple of two or three months. Sometimes I've heard of
you know, four to six month turnaround. But what they'll
do is, once it's approved, they'll pay you retroactive to
(24:02):
the application date. So if it's three months, they're going
to pay you back three months in a lumpsum check
and then monthly thereafter. Okay, so be sure to check
that out. So let's shift gears here, and I want
to talk about something I usually talk about that this
at this time of the year pretty much every year,
(24:23):
but did you know that there is a seasonal demand
for senior care? And I think that catches a lot
of people off guard. So and a lot of people
are like, well, you got to be kidding me. I mean,
I don't know why is that? And so I'm going
to uppack that just a little bit. So let's just
(24:46):
understand there every single day there's there's a demand for
senior care, home care, assist of living, long term care,
general care, respite care, memory care, skill nursing, and re
all the above. There's always a demand for senior care,
(25:08):
but the peak demand we're coming right up on it.
The peak demand for all of senior care is January
February and well into March. I used to say January February,
but now I'm kind of seeing kind of the whole
first quarter January through March. A couple of reasons for that.
(25:28):
So we're coming up into the holiday season, and it's
a wonderful time of year. Families get together. Maybe you
haven't seen your mom or your dad, or you're another
elderly loved one since the last round of holidays. And
(25:48):
what happens is families again that come in for Thanksgiving
and Christmas and New Year's and all the stuff, all
the stuff, and they're like, oh, oh, okay, wow, we
didn't see that on our FaceTime calls. We didn't well,
(26:11):
we did not catch any of that. This is not
really a safe situation. Now. We need to talk about
bringing in home care, We need to talk about maybe
looking at an assisted living something like that. Let's just get
through the holidays. It's not a crisis, but our eyes
are very open. We are aware of the need, and
then we're going to take action after the first of
(26:32):
the year, so you'll have that situation. I call that
this newly realized pent up delayed demand, because you might
see it in November December, but you don't act upon
it until January, and then you have a natural increase
in illness flu, pneumonia, covid. I don't think is ever
(26:55):
going away. We're falling on the ice and fracturing hips.
Just all heck breaks loose, right, so in this miserable
winter weather. So we have this natural increase during January
and February and into March along with that newly realized
pent up delayed demand, and boom January February March, there
(27:20):
will be literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of families
and that equates to thousands of people flooding into the
community and snapping up all of the open beds and apartments.
It happens every single year. And then this year, at
least in the state of Kansas, we have what I'll
(27:43):
call I'll refer to as a wild card. And we
might have some experts on the program here in two
or three weeks to talk about this, but there are
some proposed regulatory changes again in the state of Kansas,
not EM's or even state of Kansas that may force
many people from receiving care at home through a home
(28:04):
care provider, may force them to assisted living. These changes
would dramatically decrease the home care staff's ability to provide
care for the home care patient, and then they would
So what would happen is it's going to potentially this
is all just proposed, but it would force the home
(28:24):
care provider to move from a Class B to a
Class A licensure, which is going to take time and
effort and money. I think a lot of the providers
might just say, Okay, we're just going to do companion services.
We're not going to offer that heavier care. If they
do move up to a Class A license, it could
take six, nine, twelve months to do that and get
(28:44):
approved and get that be awarded that Class A licensure. Right,
So this will cause at least a temporary increased demand
for assisted living in the state of Kansas. So that's
a wild card that's setting out there. So what's going
to happen is the people who get out now and
(29:06):
in the next few weeks maybe into you know, mid
to later December. Those people are going to get out
ahead of this crush of this huge demand that's just
going to go boom about the first week of January.
It's going to explode. So the people who get out early, well, Steve,
I don't know. I'm kind of getting in the holiday
(29:28):
season and everything. I can see this coming though. We
weren't going to do anything until, you know, maybe spring,
or you know, maybe after the first of the year. Well,
if you put it off, you're going to be too
late because we're going to have lengthy waiting lists. So
that's why all of my clients with Senior Care Consulting
right they work with us. We do the vast majority
(29:50):
of work for you and on behalf of you and
your family. You'll have three or four hours spent in
that search and selection process and that's it. I mean,
that's one of the major benefits of Senior Care Consulting
is you spend very little time going through that search
and selection process. So if you wait, just expect a
waiting list of four or five to turn into fifteen
(30:12):
or twenty and that's just that's what's going to happen,
and you won't be able to move. Highly likely you
won't be able to move into your preferred community. And
then if you move, if you go through that search
and selection process now or in the next few weeks
here ahead of that big surge in demand, you put
(30:33):
your name on a waiting list or two, and then
what happens is when your name percolates up to the
number one position, they'll call you and they'll say, hey,
we have an apartment available or we have a bed available.
Are you ready to move? You can say no, thanks,
we're not quite ready to move. Call me the next time, right,
and then they'll call down the list number two, three, four,
(30:53):
and five until someone takes that space, and then everyone
moves up behind that person, and then they'll call you
again and again and again until the timing is right
for you. That's how a waiting list works. So there's
the I would rather drive the process than have the
process tell me where I can take my loved one.
(31:15):
If that makes sense to you, If you need help
through that search of selection process, if you if you
appreciate a premium level service, I mean, we do almost
all the work for you, minimize your time invested. Give
me a call at Senior Care Consulting and we can
definitely do that for you. Nine one, three, nine four
five twenty eight hundred or online at Seniorcare Consulting dot
(31:39):
com and we'll have more coming up.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Next, you're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior
Care Broadcasting Network. To contact Steve or a guest of
his show, this is Seniorcare Live dot com.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
We'll have more coming up. I'm Steve Keeker, President of
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own Senior Care Consulting franchise, call eight three three seven
two two three seven two six eight three three seven
(32:54):
two two three seven two six, or visit Seniorcare Consulting
dot com. Welcome back. You're listening to Senior Care Live
on the Senior Care Broadcasting Network. If you have a question,
(33:16):
visit Senior Care Live dot com. I wanted to share
with you how we can help our clients, especially in
these next few weeks as we head toward the end
of the year. Man, the holidays are just coming right up,
aren't they. And I gotta say, I'm not ready for it.
I love I mean, I love Thanksgiving and I do
(33:37):
not skip over that one. I just feel so warm
and fuzzy and close to family and all of it.
I love every second of that. And then it's fall on.
Let's let's do Christmas here? So uh and Christmas is
my favorite. But you know, you got to you got
to take care of business. And and you know what
if your your mother is exhibiting some signs and symptoms
(34:02):
of dementia that you were not aware of, and all
of a sudden, you have an issue that you have
to deal with. I remember one of my clients, this
was really really early on, and she thought her mom
was doing still pretty good, not too bad. And my
client lived in Denver. Mom lived here in the Kansas
(34:23):
City area, and she flew home and like they did
every single year for the past many decades, that made
Christmas cookies together. That was just kind of one of
their traditions. And she said, okay, mom, She handed her
the measuring cup. I need a cup of sugar. She
handed her her mom the cup of sugar, and she
turned around. She was cracking the eggs and all that
(34:44):
kind of stuff, and then she kind of turned around
and her mom was sitting there just staring at this cup,
like what am I supposed to do with this? And
she realized what was going on, and she said it
took my breath away and broke my heart. And she said, okay, mom,
(35:05):
don't forget now, you just scoop up the sugar with this.
Oh oh yeah, oh that's right, that's right. So but
she said, at that point, I realized, oh my gosh,
how many other things is she forgetting about? And is
she leaving the stove tart burners on? And is she
not locking her house? And as it turns out, she
fell victim to some scam artists running around the neighborhood
(35:31):
saying that you know, her roof was damaged and if
you pay us five thousand now, you can pay the
other four thousand when we get done so we can
bring the materials back and have our crews fix your roof.
Of course they never showed up and she found that out.
She's like, Okay, we've got a big problem here. So
you got to take care business. You have to take
(35:52):
care of your loved ones. You have to keep them safe,
you have to get them care, you have to get
them some help. With Senior Care Consulting, our clients don't
put things off. You know a lot of people do,
and if you do, I mean, that's okay. I'm trying
to help you by warning you to not do that.
(36:14):
But with Senior Care Consulting, our clients don't put things off.
They take care business. Our clients appreciate a knowledgeable expert
to help guide them through one of the biggest decisions
they'll ever make in their lifetime. Ever, our clients appreciate
(36:34):
a premium level service and they're ready to go. They're
they're like, you know what, I'm over my skis on
this thing. I need some help, and you we need
your help because we got to get this right, and
I'm not gonna I'm not just going to wing it
(36:56):
our clients. I don't know how many times I've been
told I'm not go on with one of these free services.
I see the clear conflict of interest. They're taking us
round to the places where they make all of this commission.
What I mean, what if what if there's a place
that doesn't pay commission that we should be considering. And
this is just what's been reported to me from our clients,
(37:20):
from you know, over all these years. So our clients
are not interested in that. They're interested in expert guidance.
They're interested in a firm that works directly for them
and with them, and on behalf of them, and they're
they're beloved family members. They want someone who's one hundred
percent objective and unbiased. They want a service with integrity,
(37:47):
and that is what we do with Senior Care Consulting.
We offer a free consultation nine three five twenty eight
hundred nine three nine four five twenty eight hundred. If
we miss you, please leave a message. We'll call you
back as soon as we can. You could also visit
our websites. A really good website Senior Careconsulting dot com
(38:11):
and you can contact us through the website. Just fill
out one of the contact forms and we'll get back
with you as soon as possible. But we can help you.
We can help you turn this around very very quickly.
Or we can get started and then if you're going
to be, you know, maybe out of town, maybe we
start the process now and then we'll tour when you
(38:31):
get back in town, maybe after the maybe after the
Thanksgiving holiday week in there. Okay, whatever your situation is,
but I would strongly, strongly encourage you to not put
it off. Don't do that. I have been called so
many times, Steve. We listen to your radio program, and
(38:56):
we believe you. You're constantly say being be proactive, don't
put it off. We knew we should have called you
six months ago, but we didn't call you, and here
we are regretting that decision. How fast can you turn
this around. I'm like, hey, don't worry about it. Let's
let's do our best and we do backflips to help
(39:19):
you in that situation. We'll do backflips. Here's a little
bit of the challenge, though. We're kind of if you
have to move right away, then we're limited to the
places that have spaces available. Now, if you're proactive a
little bit, and the place has four to six to
eight or maybe two three months four to six to
(39:41):
eight week waiting list or maybe two three month waiting
list and we're looking at moving after the first of
the year, we can consider them because that's going to
fit our time, our move parameters. There. Okay, does that
make sense, So again, don't put it off. Be proactive, Dave.
You gotta trust me on that one. Folks, even during
(40:02):
the holidays, all we need is three or four hours
of your time and you are done. The average person
takes fifty to one hundred hours running around looking at
all these places. Our clients are done by twelve thirty
one o'clock same day, boom done. If you appreciate a
premium service, expert guidance, an objective and unbiased process, a process,
(40:29):
and a service with integrity, give us a call at
Senior Care Consulting nine one, three, nine four five twenty
eight hundred. We're online at Seniorcareconsulting dot com. In to
our veterans, thank you so much. I've shared the I've
shared the story of my grandpa Dimitrio Quevis. He served
(40:49):
in World War Two. He was out there a lot
of gunfire. He got shot in the knee, which I
cannot imagine, and one of his buddies got shot and
he couldn't move. So my grandpa, who just got shot
in the knee, picked up his fellow soldier and carried
him to safety. He was awarded the Purple Heart for
(41:11):
that man. I'm proud of that. My mom, her buttons
just burst telling that story, of sharing that story of
her dad. So that's awesome. So again, to all of
our veterans, thank you so much. I hope you have
a wonderful day and everyone just showers you with love
and praise and affection on November the eleventh, and again,
(41:32):
just thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank
you so very much. All Right, I'm Steve Keeker, and
I wish you grace in peace, Make God bless you
and your family on this day, and always join me
next week right here on Senior Care Live. Does your
business serve the elderly and their caregivers in our area?
(41:54):
There are hundreds of thousands of people either receiving or
providing senior care, and they need to know about you.
A unique and successful radio program called Senior Care Live
is the perfect opportunity to let your target audience know
about your amazing products and services. Senior Care Live is
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(42:15):
you're aligned with their mission, they want to talk to you.
They're interested in partnering with hospital organizations, physician groups, home
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has a limited number of partner sponsor opportunities, so call
now at nine one three nine four five twenty eight
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or visit seniorcare live dot com seniorcare live dot com.
Quid pro quo a Latin phrase that means an exchange
of goods or services where one transfer is contingent upon
(42:57):
the other. Here's an example. I'll recommend your senior care
community if you'll pay me a huge kickback from my referral.
The free referral services have a vested interest in you
choosing one of their business partners. That's how they make
their money. Does this paid recommendation sound objective or credible?
Of course not. I'm Steve Keeker with Senior Care Consulting.
(43:21):
I'm so proud to say we have never received a
single penny from any provider ever. We offer a placement
service with integrity for help finding the right senior care community,
without conflict of interest and without the quid pro quo
called nine one three, nine four five twenty eight hundred
nine one three nine four five twenty eight hundred Replacement
(43:45):
service with integrity at Seniorcare Consulting dot com
Are you caring for an aging loved one? Are you
a senior searching for answers? Welcome to Senior Care Live,
a program dedicated to you, providing information, education and resources
for seniors and their caregivers. And now America's Senior Care Consultant,
Steve Keecker.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hello and welcome to Senior Care Live. I'm Steve Keeker.
You're Senior Care Consultant, and I really appreciate you tuning
in today. We have a wonderful program, an important program
for you. Here today we're going to recognize and honor
our veterans because coming right up this Tuesday the eleventh
is Veterans Day, and every sometime right around Veterans Day
(00:48):
every year I take that opportunity first and foremost to
say thank you, thank you so much for your service.
We wouldn't have anything, we wouldn't have a country, we
wouldn't have anything without you, So thank you very very much.
And I always take this opportunity to talk about a
little known benefit called the VA Aid and Attendance Benefit,
(01:14):
and it is for veterans and their surviving spouses. So
I want to just unpack that today. Every single time
I set down with one of our senior care consulting clients.
One of the first questions I ask is are you
a veteran or was your spouse a veteran? Is your
spouse a veteran? We go through all of that. If
(01:36):
the answer is yes, that we start to unpack that
because I think there are tens of thousands and maybe
hundreds of thousands of veterans who could qualify for this
benefit and they literally just don't know anything about it.
So I always discuss that with my clients a senior
care consulting. Today, I'm going to unpack it for you.
(01:58):
So the VA Aid and Attendance Benefit what it is.
It's financial assistance to help veterans and again their surviving
spouses pay for the cost of senior care. It's very
very specific. So if you're a veteran, you're doing well,
you're retired, and you're healthy, et cetera, Like, Hey, I
(02:21):
want to sign up for that and have that money
come in. Well, that's not this type of a benefit.
You have to actually need care, be paying for care,
and then they will pay for that. They'll they'll pay
a certain amount for that. So that's what this is
all about. You must require help with at least two
activities of daily living, and I'll give you the list
(02:42):
here in just a moment. There is a service requirement,
and we have a financial criteria requirement. So there, let's
just unpack all of this, okay. So, and none of
this is difficult, And if you have questions, give me
a call. I'll be glad to answer or any questions
for you. Also, you could circle back and check out
(03:05):
the podcast. I usually we turned this radio broadcast into
a podcast, usually the Monday or Tuesday after the broadcast,
so you could also go back and re listen to
that as well. Okay. So the service requirement at least
ninety consecutive days of active duty, okay, So most folks
(03:29):
that I know signed up for a four year term. Okay,
and it could be shorter than that, but at least
ninety consecutive days of active duty, at least one single day,
at least one day during a period of war, okay.
And then not dishonorably discharged. So you know, most discharges,
(03:54):
it's an honorable discharge, but there could be medical discharges
in there are a lot of other types of discharges. Not
dishonorably discharged okay, And let me say this. I've had
so many people say, well, yeah, I mean dad served
during war, but you know, I mean he was in
San Diego or he was in you know, a state
(04:14):
side with a like a logistics type of a role,
and he wasn't he didn't carry a rifle, he wasn't
in the theater of battles. So that's okay, that's okay.
I mean you could have been in Okinawa, you know,
guarding the base there. You could have been anywhere in
the world, including the United States, in some sort of
(04:37):
a support type of a role, at least one day
during a period of war while you were signed up
to be active duty, and you've served it, and you've
served at least ninety consecutive days of active duty, so
hopefully that makes sense, all right. The financial requirement. So
a lot of people say, well, I think my income's
(04:58):
too high. Well don't don't bank on that, okay. So
your income, if your income is less than the cost
of care, that would trigger the maximum payout, the maximum benefit.
Let me give you an example. Well, Steve, I mean
I have an income. It's pretty solid. It's about three
(05:20):
thousand dollars a month coming in, but we're paying about
six thousand dollars a month for a home care provider,
or we're paying about seven thousand dollars a month for
an assisted living community. Okay, Well, in that case, your income,
which is you know, a nice three thousand dollars a month,
it's less than what you're paying out for the cost
of care. So don't automatically assume anything. Just check check
(05:45):
on the details here. Liquid assets, now, this is one
that we do need to check on. So we're looking
at We're not looking at your car, in your house
and all the stuff in your house. We're looking at
liquid assets, checking savings, money market, mutual fund, CDs, all
of the stuff. Okay. So the number at for twenty
(06:06):
twenty five is one hundred and fifty nine thousand, two
hundred and forty dollars, And obviously that goes up a
little bit every year, and I think they usually bump
that up in December. I don't think it waits till January.
I think it bumps up in December. But anyway, I'll
let you know what the new number is for twenty
(06:28):
twenty six when it's released. But for twenty twenty five,
one hundred and fifty nine thousand, two hundred forty dollars.
So that means if you have liquid assets at that
number or below, then you could check the box of
meeting that financial requirement. Now, Steve, you know what if
I have one hundred and eighty thousand dollars, that's okay,
(06:50):
pay for your care and once you get down, spend
that down to one hundred and fifty nine thousand, two
hundred and forty dollars or less, then you can check
them and you would you would meet that particular financial criteria.
And then there is a three year look back. So
similar to medicaid, medicaids a five year lookback, there is
(07:10):
a three year look back. So if you have you know,
five hundred thousand dollars and then last week you gave
away you know, four hundred thousand dollars of it, you
made a gift to four hundred thousand, oh well see
if I only have one hundred thousand dollars of liquid
assets left, well, that's that's not working. Okay, don't do that.
Don't try to game the system. This is for veterans
(07:31):
and surviving spouses who qualify and who need the help here. Okay,
So there is a three year look back, and they're
looking for gifts at that point, just like they would
for the medicaid program. Okay. And then the activities of
daily living. So what this is is you must require
(07:54):
assistance with at least two activities of daily living. And
so I'll give you the the VA's list of six
that they're looking for, and we're looking at bathing. So
if you if you require assistance with your bathing or showering, okay,
and maybe minimal assistance. It could be you know, full assistance.
(08:18):
But that's that's one of them. If you need help
getting dressed and undressed, that's another one. Mobility and transferring.
Maybe someone needs to help you move from point A
to point B, maybe walk with you with with your walker,
or maybe help you in your wheelchair for longer distances.
That that would be the mobility part of it. And
(08:39):
then the transferring part, helping you maybe out of bed
to your wheelchair, in and out of the shower, on
and off of the of the toilet, in and out
of your of your recliner chair. Okay, So that's help transferring,
and that's the mobility part of it. Eating, so if
you need help eating, that's another one. And then toileting,
and and that's that's pretty self ex pretty self explanatory,
(09:05):
right there. So if you require assistance with at least
two of these bathing, dressing, mobility, and transferring, they lump
those together, eating and toileting. If you need help with
two of those, boom, we just checked a box. Okay,
so and well, Steve, I mean I'm not sure about that.
(09:27):
We're going to move to assist a living or we
have a home care provider coming in to help us out.
All right, Well, that's great. If you are paying for
care either a home care provider to come in, you
could easily check a couple of those boxes. And if
you move to assist a living, you can absolutely definitely
(09:48):
check a couple of those boxes because they're going to
help you with at least two of those things. And
if if you didn't need help with two of those things,
then you probably don't need home care and you probably
don't need and this is the living community. Does that
make sense? So anyway, today the theme is just recognizing
our veterans, thank you so much for your service. We're
(10:09):
talking about the Vaaid and Attendants benefit, and coming up next,
I'm going to have the date of the period of
war and then the big payoff. What does this program pay?
But first, Senior Care Live Question of the Week. If
you were married to a veteran but then got divorced,
you will still qualify for the Vaaid and attendance benefit
(10:33):
as the surviving spouse. Is that statement true or false?
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (10:42):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. For more information, visit Seniorcare Live dot com.
We'll have more with Steve coming up next.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Welcome back. You're listening to Senior Care Live on the
Senior Care Broadcasting Network. For more information, visit Seniorcare Live
dot com. Now back to the Senior Care Live Question
of the week. This is a good one too. All Right,
here we go. If you were married to a veteran
but then got divorced, you will still qualify for the
(11:28):
VA Aid and attendance benefit as the surviving spouse. Is
estate matrue or false? And the answer is false? The
answer is false? Well, Steve, what do you mean? I
(11:49):
put up with my husband for a long time, and
we moved all over the place, and I was stuck
with the kids, and I got really good at packing
and unpacking, and yes, thank you and thank you for
your support. Because I'll tell you what spouse is of
a veteran. They did they carried a very heavy load
while the veteran was serving his or her country. So
(12:13):
it's a really big deal. But for the purposes of
qualifying for the Vaaid and Attendance benefit, divorce severs the
flow of that benefit. Now, I've met a lot of
people who divorced a veteran, they got remarried and their
new spouse is or was a veteran. And then so
(12:36):
the bottom line is, if you're married to a veteran
and then that veteran passes away while you're still married
and you need care, and you can check all of
these other boxes, then there is a surviving spouse amount
a benefit that flows to you. I'll get to that
here in just a second. Hopefully that was just as
(12:56):
clear as mutt. So all right, so we're talking about
the Vaaid and Attendance benefit today. Thank you, Thank you
so much for all of our veterans. God bless you,
God bless your families. The Veterans Day is Tuesday, November
the eleventh. A lot of cool ceremonies. One of the
(13:17):
things that's really cool. This is just a Kansas City thing.
But you're driving down I thirty five heading north, and
like for like a half a mile along the side
of the highway there are thousands of flags that are
stuck in the grass that's going up kind of on
the banks on each side.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
It is.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
It is stunning. I love it every every year. It's
just a beautiful thing. And we have a grocery store
here locally High v They offer all veterans a free
breakfast and they clear out like the whole front of
the entire store, and they set up all these tables.
They have this big buffet and all the veterans come
in and it's a lot of camaraderie. It's so cool.
(13:56):
So any anyway, I'm getting off track here, but I
just think I love all of that. It's fantastic. So
all right, So with the vaaid and attendance benefit, So
there's a financial requirement, there is a care requirement, and
then there's a service requirement. So remember I said ninety
consecutive days of active duty. At least one of those
(14:18):
days during a period of war. Okay, so let me
give you some dates. So for World War two, December seventh,
nineteen forty one. Of course, all the way through December
the thirty first, nineteen forty six. These are the dates
(14:39):
that would make a person eligible to receive this particular benefit. Okay,
Korean War June twenty seventh, nineteen fifty all the way
through January thirty first, nineteen fifty five. And then Vietnam.
(15:00):
And I'm working with some of our younger clients with
senior care consulting and starting to help with placement services
for some of our veterans who served in the Vietnam War.
And this one has a little bit of a catch.
So all veterans serving in Vietnam War August fifth, nineteen
sixty four, all the way through May seventh, nineteen seventy five.
(15:27):
And remember, for all of these date ranges that I
just provided, you could have been stateside in a logistic
or some type of a support role. And maybe you
never carried a rifle, maybe you never shot a rifle.
You were not in the theater of war. However, Vietnam
(15:49):
has a little bit of an asterisk. If you had
boots on the ground in the Vietnam War, your date
backs up all the way to February the twenty eighth,
nineteen sixty one. So again boots on the ground you
(16:10):
served in Vietnam, and again boots on the ground February
twenty eight, nineteen sixty one. If you did not have
boots on the ground for Vietnam War, your date starts
August to fifth, nineteen sixty four, and then again all
the way through May seventh, nineteen seventy five. So if
(16:30):
you're missing some of this trying to take notes, you
can't remember it, you can go back and listen to
the podcast, or just give me a call. I'll be
happy to provide this information for you. All right. So
here's the payoff the VAAD and attendance benefit. This is
the reimbursement. I'm out for twenty twenty five. Of course
that'll go up for twenty twenty six. I don't have
those numbers yet. For a single veteran, a single veteran
(16:54):
could receive a maximum of two thousand, three hundred and
fifty eight dollars every month as a thank you for
your service. The surviving spouse of a veteran who has
passed would receive a maximum of one thousand, five hundred
and fifteen dollars per month, and then those are the
(17:20):
two main ones. Married veteran a maximum of twenty seven
ninety five. The two main categories that I deal with
with my firm senior care consulting would be the surviving
spouse or a single veteran okay, who may have lost
their spouse. They give you a quick example. Well, Steve,
I mean that's nice and everything, but I don't know
(17:41):
does that make that big of a difference. Well, let
me let me show you this. This is this is
a pretty good example. So let's say we have a
veteran without the benefit. He has one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars in liquid assets, income is three thousand dollars
a month, moved into an assisted living facility costing seven
(18:02):
thousand dollars a month, So we're short by four thousand
dollars a month, right, because our cost is seven are
incomes three, So we're short by four thousand dollars. Without
the VA Aid and attendants benefit, his money will last
for thirty seven months, about three years, and then he's
out of money and then he's going to have to
(18:23):
qualify for Medicaid at that point and probably most likely
have to move out of his assistant living apartment into
long term care to qualify for that and qualify for
Medicaid with the va Aid and Attendance benefit. Listen to
this drastic difference. The same veteran one hundred and fifty
(18:45):
thousand dollars of assets income of three thousand a month,
now we also get to add to our income two thousand,
three hundred and fifty eight dollars a month because that's
the Vaaid and Attendants Benefit. So now our new income
is five and three hundred and fifty eight dollars. Our
system living costs seven thousand dollars, So instead of being
(19:06):
short by four thousand, we're only short by one thousand,
six hundred and forty two dollars. And our one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars of assets will last us for
ninety one months over twice over twice. That extends your
length of stay in this very realistic calculation here from
(19:27):
about three years to over seven and a half years.
It makes a huge difference. And coming up next, I'm
going to tell you where you can get some help
applying for the va Aid and Attendance Benefit.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. Have a question, visits Seniorcare Live dot com.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Stick around.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
We'll have more with Steve coming up next. A recent
Internet search for nursing homes in Kansas City provided thirty
two million results. It's daunting to think that there are
over three hundred and fifty senior care communities to choose
from in the Kansas City metro and on average, you'll
(20:14):
spend fifty to one hundred hours trying to find a
place for your loved one. If this sounds overwhelming, that's
because it is. I invite you to reach out to
Senior Care Consulting. We've been serving family since two thousand
and two. With our premium service, we do most of
the work for you.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
You'll spend just.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
A few hours of your time finding the best place available,
and you can trust us to be objective because we
don't receive reimbursement from any provider. We work for you.
To learn more, call Senior Care Consulting at nine three
nine four five twenty eight hundred nine three nine four
five twenty eight hundred a placement service with integrity at
(20:55):
Seniorcare Consulting dot com.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Welcome back, you're listening to Senior Care Live on the
Senior Care Broadcasting Network. For podcasts of the program, visit
Seniorcare live dot com or wherever you get your podcasts
and we're on. I don't know. I think most of
the major platforms out there. Just go to the search
bar type in Senior Care Live and you should be
(21:27):
able to find it. All. Right, So we're talking about
the vaaid and Attendance Benefit today. Thank you veterans, Thank
you so much for your service and your sacrifice, and
thank you to your families because the families also do
their fair share so that you can defend us and
protect our freedom. And we can't thank you enough. There's
(21:50):
nothing we could do other than just to show our
appreciation and just quite literally say thank you very very much.
So THEAID an Attendance Benefit, it's for a veteran or
the surviving spouse of a deceased veteran. It's a thank
you for your service. We talked about all of the qualifications. Well, Steve,
how do we go about applying for this? So you
(22:14):
can go to I mean, you can call your local
VA and you can go about it that way. What
I recommend all of my clients do is to contact
the national headquarters of the VFW. The the national headquarters
of VFW happens to be right downtown in Kansas City, Missouri.
(22:36):
Here's the phone number that will cut that will get
you straight in to the aid and the Aid and
Attendance Benefit assistance area of of that of the VFW
headquarters eight one six, nine six, eight one one five
three eight one six nine six eight one one five three.
If that happens to be busy, If there are any
(22:58):
issues without whatsoever, let me give you the VFW main
phone number eight one six seven five six three three
nine zero and just let them know that you need
help filling out the application for the VA Aid and
Attendance Benefit. It's free of charge. They will help you
do that. You don't have to be a member of
(23:18):
the VFW. I've had Ron Cherry, great guy, he's veteran
service officer on the program several times before and he said, Hey,
we're here to serve veterans and their families and just
just talk to us and if we can help you,
we will help. So it's a it's a great, great opportunity.
It's something that now you know about and if you
(23:40):
even think you might qualify for that, I would definitely
reach out and try to get some help filling out
that application. I don't know how far behind they are
and processing these things. It could be you know, a
couple of two or three months. Sometimes I've heard of
you know, four to six month turnaround. But what they'll
do is, once it's approved, they'll pay you retroactive to
(24:02):
the application date. So if it's three months, they're going
to pay you back three months in a lumpsum check
and then monthly thereafter. Okay, so be sure to check
that out. So let's shift gears here, and I want
to talk about something I usually talk about that this
at this time of the year pretty much every year,
(24:23):
but did you know that there is a seasonal demand
for senior care? And I think that catches a lot
of people off guard. So and a lot of people
are like, well, you got to be kidding me. I mean,
I don't know why is that? And so I'm going
to uppack that just a little bit. So let's just
(24:46):
understand there every single day there's there's a demand for
senior care, home care, assist of living, long term care,
general care, respite care, memory care, skill nursing, and re
all the above. There's always a demand for senior care,
(25:08):
but the peak demand we're coming right up on it.
The peak demand for all of senior care is January
February and well into March. I used to say January February,
but now I'm kind of seeing kind of the whole
first quarter January through March. A couple of reasons for that.
(25:28):
So we're coming up into the holiday season, and it's
a wonderful time of year. Families get together. Maybe you
haven't seen your mom or your dad, or you're another
elderly loved one since the last round of holidays. And
(25:48):
what happens is families again that come in for Thanksgiving
and Christmas and New Year's and all the stuff, all
the stuff, and they're like, oh, oh, okay, wow, we
didn't see that on our FaceTime calls. We didn't well,
(26:11):
we did not catch any of that. This is not
really a safe situation. Now. We need to talk about
bringing in home care, We need to talk about maybe
looking at an assisted living something like that. Let's just get
through the holidays. It's not a crisis, but our eyes
are very open. We are aware of the need, and
then we're going to take action after the first of
(26:32):
the year, so you'll have that situation. I call that
this newly realized pent up delayed demand, because you might
see it in November December, but you don't act upon
it until January, and then you have a natural increase
in illness flu, pneumonia, covid. I don't think is ever
(26:55):
going away. We're falling on the ice and fracturing hips.
Just all heck breaks loose, right, so in this miserable
winter weather. So we have this natural increase during January
and February and into March along with that newly realized
pent up delayed demand, and boom January February March, there
(27:20):
will be literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of families
and that equates to thousands of people flooding into the
community and snapping up all of the open beds and apartments.
It happens every single year. And then this year, at
least in the state of Kansas, we have what I'll
(27:43):
call I'll refer to as a wild card. And we
might have some experts on the program here in two
or three weeks to talk about this, but there are
some proposed regulatory changes again in the state of Kansas,
not EM's or even state of Kansas that may force
many people from receiving care at home through a home
(28:04):
care provider, may force them to assisted living. These changes
would dramatically decrease the home care staff's ability to provide
care for the home care patient, and then they would
So what would happen is it's going to potentially this
is all just proposed, but it would force the home
(28:24):
care provider to move from a Class B to a
Class A licensure, which is going to take time and
effort and money. I think a lot of the providers
might just say, Okay, we're just going to do companion services.
We're not going to offer that heavier care. If they
do move up to a Class A license, it could
take six, nine, twelve months to do that and get
(28:44):
approved and get that be awarded that Class A licensure. Right,
So this will cause at least a temporary increased demand
for assisted living in the state of Kansas. So that's
a wild card that's setting out there. So what's going
to happen is the people who get out now and
(29:06):
in the next few weeks maybe into you know, mid
to later December. Those people are going to get out
ahead of this crush of this huge demand that's just
going to go boom about the first week of January.
It's going to explode. So the people who get out early, well, Steve,
I don't know. I'm kind of getting in the holiday
(29:28):
season and everything. I can see this coming though. We
weren't going to do anything until, you know, maybe spring,
or you know, maybe after the first of the year. Well,
if you put it off, you're going to be too
late because we're going to have lengthy waiting lists. So
that's why all of my clients with Senior Care Consulting
right they work with us. We do the vast majority
(29:50):
of work for you and on behalf of you and
your family. You'll have three or four hours spent in
that search and selection process and that's it. I mean,
that's one of the major benefits of Senior Care Consulting
is you spend very little time going through that search
and selection process. So if you wait, just expect a
waiting list of four or five to turn into fifteen
(30:12):
or twenty and that's just that's what's going to happen,
and you won't be able to move. Highly likely you
won't be able to move into your preferred community. And
then if you move, if you go through that search
and selection process now or in the next few weeks
here ahead of that big surge in demand, you put
(30:33):
your name on a waiting list or two, and then
what happens is when your name percolates up to the
number one position, they'll call you and they'll say, hey,
we have an apartment available or we have a bed available.
Are you ready to move? You can say no, thanks,
we're not quite ready to move. Call me the next time, right,
and then they'll call down the list number two, three, four,
(30:53):
and five until someone takes that space, and then everyone
moves up behind that person, and then they'll call you
again and again and again until the timing is right
for you. That's how a waiting list works. So there's
the I would rather drive the process than have the
process tell me where I can take my loved one.
(31:15):
If that makes sense to you, If you need help
through that search of selection process, if you if you
appreciate a premium level service, I mean, we do almost
all the work for you, minimize your time invested. Give
me a call at Senior Care Consulting and we can
definitely do that for you. Nine one, three, nine four
five twenty eight hundred or online at Seniorcare Consulting dot
(31:39):
com and we'll have more coming up.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Next, you're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior
Care Broadcasting Network. To contact Steve or a guest of
his show, this is Seniorcare Live dot com.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
We'll have more coming up. I'm Steve Keeker, President of
Senior Care Consulting. For those of you working in the
business of senior care, I have an amazing opportunity for you.
If you have ever thought about owning your own business,
(32:11):
this is for you. If you're a nursing home administrator,
assisted living executive director, sales and marketing representative, director of
nursing or director of social services. This is what we do.
We help our clients find the right senior care community.
We're not another run of the mill, free referral service.
We're very different. We offer a placement service with integrity.
(32:34):
We're currently offering special incentives for the first five franchise owners.
I call it the Founder's Club. Take advantage of this
amazing incentive and opportunity. For more information about owning your
own Senior Care Consulting franchise, call eight three three seven
two two three seven two six eight three three seven
(32:54):
two two three seven two six, or visit Seniorcare Consulting
dot com. Welcome back. You're listening to Senior Care Live
on the Senior Care Broadcasting Network. If you have a question,
(33:16):
visit Senior Care Live dot com. I wanted to share
with you how we can help our clients, especially in
these next few weeks as we head toward the end
of the year. Man, the holidays are just coming right up,
aren't they. And I gotta say, I'm not ready for it.
I love I mean, I love Thanksgiving and I do
(33:37):
not skip over that one. I just feel so warm
and fuzzy and close to family and all of it.
I love every second of that. And then it's fall on.
Let's let's do Christmas here? So uh and Christmas is
my favorite. But you know, you got to you got
to take care of business. And and you know what
if your your mother is exhibiting some signs and symptoms
(34:02):
of dementia that you were not aware of, and all
of a sudden, you have an issue that you have
to deal with. I remember one of my clients, this
was really really early on, and she thought her mom
was doing still pretty good, not too bad. And my
client lived in Denver. Mom lived here in the Kansas
(34:23):
City area, and she flew home and like they did
every single year for the past many decades, that made
Christmas cookies together. That was just kind of one of
their traditions. And she said, okay, mom, She handed her
the measuring cup. I need a cup of sugar. She
handed her her mom the cup of sugar, and she
turned around. She was cracking the eggs and all that
(34:44):
kind of stuff, and then she kind of turned around
and her mom was sitting there just staring at this cup,
like what am I supposed to do with this? And
she realized what was going on, and she said it
took my breath away and broke my heart. And she said, okay, mom,
(35:05):
don't forget now, you just scoop up the sugar with this.
Oh oh yeah, oh that's right, that's right. So but
she said, at that point, I realized, oh my gosh,
how many other things is she forgetting about? And is
she leaving the stove tart burners on? And is she
not locking her house? And as it turns out, she
fell victim to some scam artists running around the neighborhood
(35:31):
saying that you know, her roof was damaged and if
you pay us five thousand now, you can pay the
other four thousand when we get done so we can
bring the materials back and have our crews fix your roof.
Of course they never showed up and she found that out.
She's like, Okay, we've got a big problem here. So
you got to take care business. You have to take
(35:52):
care of your loved ones. You have to keep them safe,
you have to get them care, you have to get
them some help. With Senior Care Consulting, our clients don't
put things off. You know a lot of people do,
and if you do, I mean, that's okay. I'm trying
to help you by warning you to not do that.
(36:14):
But with Senior Care Consulting, our clients don't put things off.
They take care business. Our clients appreciate a knowledgeable expert
to help guide them through one of the biggest decisions
they'll ever make in their lifetime. Ever, our clients appreciate
(36:34):
a premium level service and they're ready to go. They're
they're like, you know what, I'm over my skis on
this thing. I need some help, and you we need
your help because we got to get this right, and
I'm not gonna I'm not just going to wing it
(36:56):
our clients. I don't know how many times I've been
told I'm not go on with one of these free services.
I see the clear conflict of interest. They're taking us
round to the places where they make all of this commission.
What I mean, what if what if there's a place
that doesn't pay commission that we should be considering. And
this is just what's been reported to me from our clients,
(37:20):
from you know, over all these years. So our clients
are not interested in that. They're interested in expert guidance.
They're interested in a firm that works directly for them
and with them, and on behalf of them, and they're
they're beloved family members. They want someone who's one hundred
percent objective and unbiased. They want a service with integrity,
(37:47):
and that is what we do with Senior Care Consulting.
We offer a free consultation nine three five twenty eight
hundred nine three nine four five twenty eight hundred. If
we miss you, please leave a message. We'll call you
back as soon as we can. You could also visit
our websites. A really good website Senior Careconsulting dot com
(38:11):
and you can contact us through the website. Just fill
out one of the contact forms and we'll get back
with you as soon as possible. But we can help you.
We can help you turn this around very very quickly.
Or we can get started and then if you're going
to be, you know, maybe out of town, maybe we
start the process now and then we'll tour when you
(38:31):
get back in town, maybe after the maybe after the
Thanksgiving holiday week in there. Okay, whatever your situation is,
but I would strongly, strongly encourage you to not put
it off. Don't do that. I have been called so
many times, Steve. We listen to your radio program, and
(38:56):
we believe you. You're constantly say being be proactive, don't
put it off. We knew we should have called you
six months ago, but we didn't call you, and here
we are regretting that decision. How fast can you turn
this around. I'm like, hey, don't worry about it. Let's
let's do our best and we do backflips to help
(39:19):
you in that situation. We'll do backflips. Here's a little
bit of the challenge, though. We're kind of if you
have to move right away, then we're limited to the
places that have spaces available. Now, if you're proactive a
little bit, and the place has four to six to
eight or maybe two three months four to six to
(39:41):
eight week waiting list or maybe two three month waiting
list and we're looking at moving after the first of
the year, we can consider them because that's going to
fit our time, our move parameters. There. Okay, does that
make sense, So again, don't put it off. Be proactive, Dave.
You gotta trust me on that one. Folks, even during
(40:02):
the holidays, all we need is three or four hours
of your time and you are done. The average person
takes fifty to one hundred hours running around looking at
all these places. Our clients are done by twelve thirty
one o'clock same day, boom done. If you appreciate a
premium service, expert guidance, an objective and unbiased process, a process,
(40:29):
and a service with integrity, give us a call at
Senior Care Consulting nine one, three, nine four five twenty
eight hundred. We're online at Seniorcareconsulting dot com. In to
our veterans, thank you so much. I've shared the I've
shared the story of my grandpa Dimitrio Quevis. He served
(40:49):
in World War Two. He was out there a lot
of gunfire. He got shot in the knee, which I
cannot imagine, and one of his buddies got shot and
he couldn't move. So my grandpa, who just got shot
in the knee, picked up his fellow soldier and carried
him to safety. He was awarded the Purple Heart for
(41:11):
that man. I'm proud of that. My mom, her buttons
just burst telling that story, of sharing that story of
her dad. So that's awesome. So again, to all of
our veterans, thank you so much. I hope you have
a wonderful day and everyone just showers you with love
and praise and affection on November the eleventh, and again,
(41:32):
just thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank
you so very much. All Right, I'm Steve Keeker, and
I wish you grace in peace, Make God bless you
and your family on this day, and always join me
next week right here on Senior Care Live. Does your
business serve the elderly and their caregivers in our area?
(41:54):
There are hundreds of thousands of people either receiving or
providing senior care, and they need to know about you.
A unique and successful radio program called Senior Care Live
is the perfect opportunity to let your target audience know
about your amazing products and services. Senior Care Live is
currently adding a limited number of partner sponsors, and if
(42:15):
you're aligned with their mission, they want to talk to you.
They're interested in partnering with hospital organizations, physician groups, home
care providers, a state planning and older law practices, financial advisors,
insurance companies, real estate brokers, home health agencies, and other
providers serving the elderly and their caregivers. Senior Care Live
(42:36):
has a limited number of partner sponsor opportunities, so call
now at nine one three nine four five twenty eight
hundred nine one three nine four five twenty eight hundred
or visit seniorcare live dot com seniorcare live dot com.
Quid pro quo a Latin phrase that means an exchange
of goods or services where one transfer is contingent upon
(42:57):
the other. Here's an example. I'll recommend your senior care
community if you'll pay me a huge kickback from my referral.
The free referral services have a vested interest in you
choosing one of their business partners. That's how they make
their money. Does this paid recommendation sound objective or credible?
Of course not. I'm Steve Keeker with Senior Care Consulting.
(43:21):
I'm so proud to say we have never received a
single penny from any provider ever. We offer a placement
service with integrity for help finding the right senior care community,
without conflict of interest and without the quid pro quo
called nine one three, nine four five twenty eight hundred
nine one three nine four five twenty eight hundred Replacement
(43:45):
service with integrity at Seniorcare Consulting dot com
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