September 16, 2025 • 44 mins
Listen in as host Steve Kuker, President of Senior Care Consulting, recognizes National Assisted Living Week and defines the assisted living level of care, the types of care that can be provided at this level, the average monthly cost, and the 3 AL pricing models. Don’t miss the Consumer Alert about the Top 10 Reasons you could receive an unwanted discharge from assisted living and how to avoid an unwanted discharge. #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, Hello and welcome to Senior Care Live.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm Steve Keeker, You're Senior Care Consultant, and I really
appreciate you tuning in today. We have a wonderful program.
This is going to be another fire hose, but on
a specific topic. So in honor of National Assisted Living
Week today, I would like to review just a ton
of information relative to the assisted living level of care.
(00:49):
So let's start off with assisted living. One oh one.
What is assisted living? And I'll tell you what to
me this is pretty easy, kind of right down the middle.
But I've worked in the business for you know how
many years, for a long long time, really long time.
So but your average person out there, your average family
(01:11):
who may be in the market for assisted living, they
don't really necessarily understand what that is. So let's talk
about that for a minute. So the assisted living level
of care, let me tell you what it is. Not
it is not a medical model. Here I'm going to
say that one again. The assisted living level of care
(01:33):
is not a medical model. I describe it as more
of a social model. And there's a tremendous amount of
support at the assisted living level of care, and it
primarily surrounds the need for assistance with your activities of
daily living.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
So if you ever hear.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
The acronym or the or the abbreviation a d L,
so oh, you're a d LS. A lot of people
in healthcare speak in acronymology and it's a little irritating
because you're talking to a family. You know they have
no clue what you're talking about, so stop that. So
it's an ADL for I would say an insider's term,
(02:17):
but for the rest of the world, which is the
majority of the rest of the world, it is an
activity of daily living. So they can help you minimally
or fully or anywhere in between with your bathing, dressing, grooming,
and using the toilet. Okay, minimally or fully. You may
not need help with all of those things, maybe one
(02:39):
or two, maybe all of them. Maybe a little bit
of help with this one, a lot of help with
this one. You may just need prompting, today's our shower day,
Oh okay, all right, or you know it's whatever it
might be, okay, So minimally, minimal or full assistance with
your bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, using the restroom. They can
(03:04):
also help you with incontinence support to a point, to
a point, and all of the points are different. Some
places will help out maybe a little bit, maybe not
at all, and some places will help out quite a bit.
So you've got a lot of You've got some variables here,
some a little bit of a wider lane for assisted living.
(03:25):
They also and this one is huge, they will fully
manage and distribute your medications. That's a big one. That
is that's a huge one. And depending on what you're
taking your medication for, it could be critical. Get the
proper get the right meds on time, you know, x
(03:46):
times per day, right, So they do all of that
at this level. They provide all of your meals, snacks,
and hydration. There's a full slate of activities for meaningful
social engagement. There is uh there's transportation that would take
(04:07):
you out to see your doctor or see a specialist.
Most people go for this option. There is usually maybe
one or maybe a couple of physicians and they will
come into the building essentially making a house call. And
it would either be the physician or their nurse practitioner
(04:28):
and they come to you. That's just unbelievably convenient. Okay.
So there is a lot to like about the assisted
living level of care. It's a tremendous amount of care.
It's just not a medical model per se. Okay, So
(04:49):
I mentioned it is not a standardized model so long
term care, and it's governed by the licensure. There's a
long term care licensure as exactly what you have to provide.
They are all the same as far as what they provide. Now,
obviously some long term care communities deliver better than others.
(05:09):
And it doesn't matter what the name on the building is, Okay,
it all comes down to the people, the individuals in
that building. It all comes down to people. Just about
everything does, doesn't it. So if you say, well, you
know company X, Y Z, oh that's a great place.
You could have one of their buildings with maybe a
poor manager, maybe they don't do as well. Can go
(05:31):
the other way. Oh, Steve, aw, I don't know. I've
heard really bad things about you. Know blah blah blah,
and I'm like, well, which location, because I know locations
of blah blah blah that do a fantastic job. So le,
let's talk about that. It always comes down to the
people in that particular building. But as far as not
(05:52):
being a standardized model, I give a lot of presentations,
and I did a presentation this past week.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
It was great.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It was over zoomed to people all over the country.
And I do that all the time. I give presentations
for companies, civic groups, churches. If you're interested in something
like that, reach out and give me a call. We'll
see if we can work out something to do that.
But in these presentations, I use a slide on the
left side of independent living. On the right side you
have long term care, and then a very wide like
(06:22):
the center. Two thirds of this slide is the assisted
living level of care. And here's why. Because it's just
it's not a standardized model. In assisted living, you could choose,
let's say, for example, we'll go on one side and
then the other, so you could choose to provide very
little care. And your marketing and your image that you're
(06:46):
trying to build and create is we're an upbeat community.
We're very active, our residents are independent and involved in
all sorts of stuff, et cetera, et cetera. And they're
in this graphic they're leaning way over towards the left,
almost not quite but in the neighborhood of independent living.
(07:10):
Some assisted living communities are the polar opposite of that.
They're leaning in my graphic, which you can't see on
the radio, but they lean way over to the right,
almost approaching the long term care level of care. And
they'll bend over backwards to keep you in the assisted
(07:31):
living level of care and keep you from having to
move to long term care, and they'll provide a lot
more help and oh, by the way, everything in between.
That's why I think assisted living level of care is
the second most difficult level to go out and try
to figure out and then try to find the best
the best fit for you. You could go out and talk
(07:52):
to five different assisted living communities here, five different stories,
and they're all correct. There's that much leeway in the
assisted living level of care. So again, assisted living is
not a standardized model. You could have some some pretty
big variances there. So what types of care can you
(08:15):
receive at the assisted living level of care, and you
could receive a lot. Okay, you could receive general care,
and I just call it general care, just everyday care assistance,
you know, minimally or fully with your bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting,
(08:37):
and continent support, medication management, et cetera, et cetera, just
everyday care. You could receive memory care at the assisted
living level of care. So that is a resident needing
assistants minimally or fully with their bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting,
(08:59):
and continent support, medication management. And they also have dementia,
they have cognitive issues, cognitive impairment. Okay, so memory care
is a special type of care for a resident with
cognitive impairment.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
It's just as simple.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
I know all kinds of people who go out and say, well, Steve,
you know they have assisted living, but they also have
memory care and that's a different level of care.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Nope, it's not.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
There is licensure for the assisted living level of care.
There is no licensure for memory care. That's the easiest
way to talk about that. So at the assisted living
level of care, you could receive just general care memory care.
You could receive a special care mental health care. You
could receive respite care, which is it's a short term state,
(09:54):
maybe thirty days or less. You could receive hospice care
at the assisted living level of care. Right. So, if
this all sounds confusing, this is exactly why I created
my firm, Senior Care Consulting. If you have questions about this,
if you need help navigating your way through that search
(10:15):
and selection process trying to find the right fit in
the best place available, give us a call. We would
love to visit with you about that and work with
you if you need our help. Nine one, three, nine four, five,
twenty eight hundred or Senior Care Consulting dot com. And
now the Senior Care Live Question of the Week. Skilled
nursing and rehabilitation can be provided at the assisted living
(10:37):
level of care. Is that statement true or false? What
do you think?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. For more information, visit seniorcare Live dot com.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
We'll have more with Steve coming up next.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
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 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
(11:24):
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. You'll spend just 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.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
We work for you.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
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
Seniorcareconsulting dot.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Com and welcome back.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. For more information, go to Seniorcare Live dot com.
All right back to the Senior Care Live question of
the week. Skilled nursing and rehabilitation can be provided at
the assisted living level of care. Is that statement true
(12:27):
or false? And the answer is.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
False?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
The answer is false. So I just talked about the
types of care you can receive at the assisted living level.
You can receive general care, memory care, mental health care,
respite care, and even hospice care. But you cannot receive
skilled nursing and rehabilitation at the assisted living level because
(12:58):
guess what they're licensured not allow for that. See, it's
all about the licensure. So skilled nursing and rehabilitation, that's
a type of care, and the only place you're going
to find that is in the long term care level
of care. Okay, So, and it's paid for by Medicare.
(13:19):
It is a medical service. It is after a three
night overnight in a hospital, three midnights in a hospital,
or longer. Medicare will pay up to one hundred days.
That would be the maximum. Most folks don't get anywhere
near that. Maybe three or four weeks, six weeks would
be a pretty good rehab stay your in and out.
(13:39):
If you're recovering from a stroke or a neuromuscular disease
like one of my clients is currently, it's a very
long long road back to their baseline. You might get
your hundred days for something like that, Okay, but again
that statement is false. All right, So we're talking about
assisted living this week in honor of National Assisted Living Week.
(14:06):
So let's talk about the average cost per month for
the assisted living level of care. Now, you're going to
have a little bit of a range, like you might expect,
and the cost is primarily going to be based on
the size of your apartment and then how much help
you need or how much care. Okay, So obviously a
(14:27):
studio apartment is going to be less than a one
bedroom apartment is going to be less than a two
bedroom apartment, right, and then if you need a little
bit of help or care, typically that will be less
or a lower charge than if you need a lot
of help or a lot of care. So let's talk
(14:49):
about that average cost. We're looking, you know, in the
Kansas City area, six to eight thousand, maybe nine thousand dollars, Okay,
we'll just call it. Six thousand and nine thousand dollars
is going to cover I think, you know, most places,
and I think that's a pretty solid number all around
the country. Now, if you're in a smaller city, it
(15:10):
might be a little bit less. If you're in a huge,
major metropolitan area where the cost of living is pretty high.
I think we're going to see more than that, okay,
but I think a good solid number six thousand and
nine thousand dollars per month. Now let's talk about the
pricing models. We have three primary pricing models. The most
common pricing model for the assisted living level of cares
(15:34):
is referred to as base plus level of care. So
let's say your base charge is So this last week,
I worked with a couple of different clients. We're both
looking at the assisted living level of care. One needed
memory care, the other needed memory care at the assisted
living level, okay, and then the other needed general care
(15:56):
at the assisted living level. So so I just looked
at all this. So a studio apartment at the assisted
living level of care just general care, because memory care
is going to add five hundred to one thousand dollars
onto all these numbers. But for that studio apartment, you know,
it might be anywhere from you know, forty eight hundred
to maybe fifty four fifty six hundred dollars kind of
(16:18):
in that neighborhood. But then you would add the level
of care. Now, most places would have at least three
different levels of care. So the second place with my
clients this past week, they had three levels of care
at most of them. On the day before when I
worked with the nice gentleman looking at some places on
(16:39):
behalf of his mother, most of the place has had
a five different levels of care. Okay, But the concept,
so the first level of care might add you know,
four hundred dollars. Then level of care too might be
eight hundred, might be twelve and sixteen and right, you
see how that goes, or maybe five hundred, one thy, fifteen,
(17:00):
twenty twenty five, maybe max out at three thousand dollars.
So that's the concept. So the idea is that they're
going to do an assessment and then they are going
to assign a number of points for each of those
activities of daily living that you require assistance with, and
they're going to tally up all these points and then
(17:20):
if it falls into a level of care one that
category one, that might add five hundred dollars onto your
level of care, and then if it falls into two,
it might add you know, one thousand dollars or fifteen,
et cetera, et cetera. And the concept is everyone pays
for their apartment, which would include you know, three meals
a day in housekeeping, a laundry, and all the all
the stuff. Okay, and then if you need a little
(17:41):
bit of help, you're paying a little more. If you
require a lot more help and utilize a lot more
resources of staffing, you're going to pay more than the
other person. To try to make that fair. That is
the most common pricing model for the assisted living level
of care. Another one that I'm seeing more and more
(18:02):
of is I just call it a flat fee. They
may refer to it as an all inclusive fee. I
just call it a flat fee for service. And it
might be you know, a studio apartment is eight hundred dollars,
or you know, four hundred and fifty dollars or whatever.
The number is flat rate. Every month, it's the same.
(18:27):
It's the same amount every month you come in. If
you need a little bit of help, it's, you know,
seventy four hundred and fifty dollars. If you need a
lot of help, four hundred and fifty dollars, it's just
the same, okay. My clients love that one. By the way,
it's very easy to budget for, so it's no surprises
(18:47):
at the end of the month, no changes in level
of care, no meetings to discuss as just x dollars
a month. Boom, it just happens, okay. The third one
is a that base charge plus points or some would
refer to that as a la carte. So if you
(19:07):
need help on this day with your shower, that's two points.
If you need help getting dressed, that's a point. If
you need help with this, that's you know, three points,
and they add them all up. It's very detailed, and
they add all of that up, and at the end
of the month they add up those points and it
(19:27):
might be you know, five dollars a point or whatever,
whatever their number is, okay, plus the base and then
you get this very exact price. Now a lot of
my clients don't like that because they're like, oh my gosh,
I got to sort through this, and well, why do
they need this here? And it almost sets up a
little bit of an adversarial conversation or a difficult conversation
at the end of each month. But in their defense,
(19:48):
they're trying to be exact. They want to charge you
for exactly what was provided, no more and no less.
So you see a few places with that base plus
points or that ola carte calculation. Again, most of them
would be a base plus a level of care, at
least three levels of care, if not maybe four or five.
(20:09):
And then you'll see some flat feed for services, and
then the other one that base plus the points or
a la carte. Now, I want to let everyone know
that all assisted living communities have a threshold or a
limit that they cannot exceed, and if your need exceeds
that threshold, you will have to move. So coming up next,
(20:34):
I'm going to review the top ten reasons for an
unwanted discharge from the assisted living community.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. Have a question, visit seniorcare live dot com.
Stick around. We'll have more with Steve coming up next.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Hello, this is Steve Keeker, President of Senior Care Consulting.
I'm so excited to announce that we are expanding nationwide
by awarding Senior Care Consulting franchises. We help our clients
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(21:22):
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(21:45):
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seven two two three seven two six or visit Seniorcareconsulting
dot com.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. For podcast of the program, visit seniorcare Live
dot com or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, So,
as advertised the top ten reasons you could be discharged
from the assisted living level of care. This would be
an unwanted discharge from the assisted living level of care,
(22:30):
maybe triggering that thirty day discharge notice, the dreaded letter
saying we can no longer meet your needs and you
need to find another place. That's not what you usually
want to hear. So number one becoming a two person transfer.
So I'll just share a quick story of a recent
senior care consulting client. They're very upset to receive that
(22:52):
thirty day discharge notice. They were not told of any
transfer limitations. Okay, And what I mean by two for
two person transfer is it would take two staff to
help a resident from point A to point B. They
can all do once one person transfers, but when it
comes to two person transfers most assistant living communities, that's
(23:14):
one of the thresholds. Now, some can do it, okay,
and that's that wide lane that I'm talking about, Okay,
but most of them they're limited to one person transfer.
It's all a matter of having enough staff to do that.
They were very upset to receive that. They were not
told of any of these limitations. And let me just
say this that you know, most of the time maybe
(23:35):
you didn't ask the right question, but they also did
not share some of these limitations and what would cause
a discharge. It's just as simple as that. And again
with senior care consulting, this is never an issue because
we won't let you make that mistake. We just it
doesn't happen with my firm. That's it number two, requiring
(23:56):
too much care. So the staffing model has limitations at
most assisted living communities. And if you need more care
than they can offer. They're just again the languages. We
can no longer meet your needs. And it could just
be that your loved one requires too much care. It's
just exceeding their threshold. Number three in continence care is
(24:19):
becoming more and more necessary. And again most places can
help you minimally with incontinence care incontinence management, but they're
also going to discharge a person if there's too much
incontinence care that would be required. A lot of times
you'll have a memory care issue around that, and it
we require a lot of staff help to keep up
(24:42):
with that and manage it. So that's another potential issue.
If you need a low air loss mattress to prevent
wound care or skin breakdown issues, that could be one
of the reasons if your loved one needs medical care
such as wound care, compressi in wraps for lymphedema. Maybe
it requires a mechanical lift, tube feeding through a peg tube,
(25:08):
urinary cath care, IV therapy, all these sort of things.
This falls pretty squarely into that medical category. Now there
are always exceptions. Can some assistant living communities provide a
mechanical lift and a two person transfer, Yes, yes, of course,
(25:29):
very few and far between, but yes, the answer is yes.
The majority the answer is no. That's why we're getting
these this discharge letter number six. If your loved one
requires pain management, that's more than they can handle. Maybe
they're dealing with pain patches that have to be properly placed,
injections with pain management medications, managing an implanted pain pump,
(25:53):
all of those sort of things. Again kind of lean
toward that medical side of things. That may not be
able to deal with that, and they may decline or
let's say you move in there and then this is
something new for you that that would.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Cause it or could cause it.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Gandrid seven. It could be just as simple as needing
diabetic management with insulin injections. Now, most assistant living communities
cannot offer round the clock diabetic management because a lot
of times they don't have the LPN or RN on staff,
and typically that's going to be an LPN. They're not
required to have an RN on staff. They're required to
(26:30):
have an RN on call. Okay, but you have to
to you if the staff is responsible for physically giving
that insulin injection and they're not staffed for it, particularly
in the overnight hours, that they're not gonna be able
to do that. Okay, some can and will do this,
(26:53):
most do not. Again, it's just it's a function of staffing.
And then number eight, needing help eating your food or
needing a really specialized diet thickened liquids, parade food, or
maybe some other specialized diet that could cause a discharge.
And then there's this.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please, this is a consumer alert,
consumer alert, all right.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
So all assisted living communities care for residents with cognitive impairment.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
So if.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
They don't all offer memory care, they all care for
residents with cognitive impairment. I just worked with the family
earlier this week, and her dad has dementia, but he's
early on with it. No behaviors, no elopement risk, nothing,
none of that. So he'll be just fine in the
assisted living general care area of the building. We also
(27:59):
chose a place that has a memory care unit within
the building, Okay, so that if he should need that
at some point, he just transfers to another part of
the building and he doesn't get discharged. Okay, you see
how that works. If you contact one, they may say,
oh yeah, we offer memory care and that's that's true.
(28:20):
They all they all offer memory care. But even if
they do not have a memory care neighborhood, a separate
part of the building with codes on the doors and
and and all of the things that go into memory care.
And again, all of them care for cognitively impaired residents.
But when the memory issues exceed their limits, and if
(28:40):
they don't have that memory care unit, memory care neighborhood
in the building, you will be asked to move. So
let's say you loved ones doing well at the assisted
living level of care in the general care area. They're
just they're just doing fine, and everything's going great, and
then you'll see a decline in your loved one and
(29:01):
now they're wandering. They're they're walking around and uh and
they're and they're not trying and and god, God love them,
they're not trying to cause any problems. Okay, but they
wonder outside it's zero degrees, it's one hundred degrees. They
may wander away from the building not really you know,
not figure out not able to remember or figure out
(29:23):
how to get back to the building. They put themselves
in harms way. Now they're considered an elopement risk. And
that's that's a problem they have. They're responsible for your
safety and your health and your well being. So most
assisted living communities will have a wander guard system. You
wear this little this little watch like bracelet. If you
(29:43):
get too close to the exit door, it'll set off
in alarm. They can redirect you away from the door
again to keep you safe. Okay, And it's a great
tool that could prevent your loved one from you know,
wandering away or leaving the building unattended and placing themselves
in harm. Wait, however, if your loved one is setting
(30:03):
off that alarm you know, too many times per day,
and if they don't have that memory care unit or
neighborhood within the building, you are going to get the
letter saying we can no longer meet their needs. Now,
if the assisted living community has the memory care neighborhood
within the building, your loved one can simply and easily
(30:26):
be transferred to that part of the building and that
usually takes care of it. So remember, assisted living is
the level of care and memory care is the type
of care.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Proceed with caution. This has been a consumer alert brought
to you by Senior Care Live. All right, So is
this exciting. So number ten, if you run out of money,
you're going to get discharged, period, Steve. Can they do that,
Yeah they can. Most assisted living communities are price it
(31:00):
pay only, not all of them, most of them. So
even if you've lived there for years and years and years,
the second you run out of money, you're out. It's
just as simple as that. I mean throwing a couple
of bonus. I know I said the top ten, but
a couple of bonus. Eleven.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
If your loved one is falling too much, just falling
all the time and really getting bumps and bruises and
maybe even a fracture, do not, and I mean do not. Okay,
so I'm gonna all CAP do all CAP not sign
a negotiated risk agreement. I don't have enough time to
(31:37):
go through that today. But what that says is if
they're asking you to sign an agreement saying you agree
that we're not responsible for all these falls and if
your loved one falls and hurts themselves, we're not responsible.
You're just taking them off the hook.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Don't do that.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
What this is saying is you're not at the right place,
or you're not at the right level of care. Do
not sign that period, thank me later, just don't sign it.
And then number twelve. If your loved one has any
negative quote you know, behaviors, they'll be discharged. It could
be too much wandering, wandering in and out of other
residence rooms, exit seeking. It could be foul language or
(32:15):
inappropriate language with the opposite sex, you know, inappropriate advances
toward the opposite sex, just all those sort of things.
So some behaviors that's going to get you a quick
ticket out the door. So those are the top ten,
and I give you a couple of bonus reasons on
how you may receive an unwanted discharge from the assistant
(32:36):
living level of care, and coming up next, what you
can do to avoid this discharge altogether.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. To contact Steve or a guest on his show,
This is Seniorcare Live dot com.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
We'll have more coming up.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
So you've been living independently at home, but now it's
not working out. It's time to begin searching for a
senior care community. But with hundreds of independent living, assisted living,
long term care, and memory care options, how are you
supposed to determine the best place for you.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
I'm Steve Keeker, and this is exactly why I created
my firm, Senior Care Consulting. I help my own grandparents
through this difficult process, so I know how overwhelming this
can be. Our business model ensures credibility and objectivity. We
work directly for you and we never receive reimbursement from
any provider. We've helped hundreds of family since two thousand
(33:42):
and two, and we can help you and your family
as well. Call today for a free consultation at nine
one three nine four five twenty eight hundred. Nine one
three nine four five twenty eight hundred, a placement service
with integrity at Seniorcare Consulting dot com.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. Have a question, visit Seniorcare Live dot com.
All right, so I went through. So we're talking about
assisted living in honor of National Assistant Living Week. It
is an awesome It's a fantastic option for so many people.
(34:32):
They help you with those activities of daily living, minimal
or full assistance with your bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting. They
can help with the incontinence support incontinence management. They order
and manage and distribute all of your medications, make all
of your meals, provide all of your snacks and hydration.
(34:53):
There's a full slate of activities for meaningful social engagement.
Doctors make house calls. There's transportation and to go out
to see doctor's appointments and maybe specialists and that sort
of thing. Tons of help there, but you have to
know what you're getting into because there again there's that
wide lane and some of them provide a lot less
(35:13):
care than others and everything in between, and it's the
second most difficult level of care for the average person
to go out and to try to navigate to figure
out which one is the best one for them. And
we just talked about the pricing models and the average
cost and what is provided, and then we talked about
(35:34):
the top ten actual top ten twelve reasons on what
could cause an unwanted discharge. So what can you do
to avoid an unwanted discharge from the assisted living level
of care and help extend or maximize your stay at
your chosen assisted living community? Number one. Some of this
(35:56):
may sound pretty elementary, but it's true. Ask the right
questions about their limitations. So you got to ask the
right questions. That's why so many people work with senior
care consulting, because we know the right questions, we know
what questions to ask. Most people frankly don't. But if
you ask the right questions about their limitations, there is
(36:17):
no there are no surprises, no concerns. There understand what
you're getting into and how much care they can actually provide.
Number two, if your loved one has memory related issues,
some maybe pleasantly confused, maybe a little bit of memory loss,
it could be something a lot more than that. An
(36:38):
official diagnosis of dementia, the most common form of dementia
being Alzheimer's disease, but there are lots of different types
of dementia. Just make sure that you choose a place
that provides memory care. Not okay again, if you call
a place and you know, can you provide memory care? Yeah,
we can provide care for someone with me loss. Well,
(37:00):
that's not providing a memory care a separate part of
the building, a memory care neighborhood. If that increased care
is needed in the future, if look, if your loved
one has any thoughts about having dementia, or maybe super
early on choose an assisted living community that offers memory care,
(37:23):
and I mean a separate memory care neighborhood period.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Number three, choose an assisted living community that is connected
to long term care. So if your loved one needs
that medical level of care, if their care needs exceed
the threshold of the assisted living level of care, and
every one of them has the threshold, every one of them, okay,
(37:49):
then they can easily transfer in transition to the long
term care portion of that community without being discharged, and
just continue to receive a higher level of care within
the same organization and many times within the same building. Okay.
And then number four, don't get kicked out because of
(38:11):
a lack of funds. Okay. One of my one of
my earliest and one of my first clients, really really
early on, she called up. She was weeping, and she said,
they're going to kick my Grams out. She called her Grams,
and I said, well, what's going on? What's going on?
In long story short, she her Graham. They had paid
(38:32):
like three hundred and fifty thousand dollars something like that
for her care over a long period of time, and
then one day she gets a thirty day discharge. Notice
she thought she did something wrong. Bottom line is they said, hey, shit,
your grandma's out of money, and we don't bill Medicaid here.
We're not Medicaid certified or private pay only. And she said,
I didn't know that, okay, And if I would have
(38:53):
known that, we wouldn't have gone there. We had gone
somewhere else where she could age in place. So I
worked with her. We found her a great long term
care community that was Medicaid certified, that offered excellent memory care.
And it worked out just fine. But it's not exactly
how she thought this would go, and it's not exactly
what she wanted. But we made the best of it.
We did, and we did a good job for her,
(39:15):
and she was very appreciative, and we got her grams
in a great place. But understand the finances of it
all and just do the math and calculate. We do
this for our clients every time we sit down, and
we will do an estimate with this much income coming
in per month, and then X dollars of assets available
to cover that shortfall, and moving to say the assisted
(39:38):
living level of care at X dollars per month, your
money will last you for X months or x years.
Do you think there's a chance that your loved one
could outlive their assets. We have a good conversation about that, Okay,
but do the math. Calculate how long your loved one
(39:58):
can afford to pay privately, and then ask yourself this question,
are you willing to move them again one more time
at the time they run out of money? If the
answer is no, then you need to choose a place
that's connected to long term care and that long term
care portion of the community's Medicaid certified right, and then
(40:18):
just plan for their needs for the long term. And
these are some of the ways that you can avoid
that dreaded unwanted discharge letter.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
If all of this.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
Sounds confusing, that's because it is. It is unbelievably confusing.
And guess what, this is one of the biggest, most
consequential decisions any of us could ever make in our
entire lifetime. We are trusting total strangers to provide the
(40:54):
most intimate of care for our mother, our spouse, our father. Right,
So shouldn't you know as much about this place and
their history, and their staffing and their policies and how
they did on the most recent surprise healthcare inspection, inspection.
Shouldn't you know as much as possible about them before
(41:16):
trusting them to care for this person that you love
so much? And if you agree with me, okay, then
don't do this alone. Don't do this alone, and for
heaven's sake, don't put it in the hands of a
free referral service that gets a kickback thousands of dollars
(41:37):
from the very place that they recommends. That's just not objective,
It's not unbiased in any way, Okay. I would invite
you to reach out to my firm, Senior Care Consulting
nine one three, nine four five twenty eight hundred or
online at Seniorcare Consulting dot com, request a free consultation
(41:58):
and we'll talk to you about that business model. We
work with a very reasonable flat feed for service. We
work directly for you, and we we do not receive
a single penny from any of the providers out there, okay,
And so this is as objective and as unbiased as
it could possibly be. We get along with everyone in
(42:18):
the market, okay, we get along very very well, but
we work directly for you, and I just think this
is a superior business model. Again, if that's resonating with you.
Seniorcareconsulting dot Com nine one, three, nine four five twenty
eight hundred, give me call. Let's talk about that, all right.
I'm Steve Keeker and I wish you grace and peace.
(42:40):
May God bless you and your family on this day
and always join me next week right here on Senior
Care Life.
Speaker 4 (42:51):
Does your business serve the elderly and their caregivers in
our area? 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
(43:12):
Live is currently adding a limited number of partner sponsors,
and if 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 as 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.
(43:36):
Senior Care Live 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.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Quid pro quo a Latin phrase that means an exchange
of goods or services where one transfer is contingent upon
the other. Here's an 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
(44:14):
their money. Does this paid recommendation sound objective or credible?
Of course not. I'm Steve Keeker with Senior Care Consulting.
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
(44:37):
called nine one three, nine four five twenty eight hundred
nine one three nine four five twenty eight hundred. Replacement
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, Hello and welcome to Senior Care Live.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm Steve Keeker, You're Senior Care Consultant, and I really
appreciate you tuning in today. We have a wonderful program.
This is going to be another fire hose, but on
a specific topic. So in honor of National Assisted Living
Week today, I would like to review just a ton
of information relative to the assisted living level of care.
(00:49):
So let's start off with assisted living. One oh one.
What is assisted living? And I'll tell you what to
me this is pretty easy, kind of right down the middle.
But I've worked in the business for you know how
many years, for a long long time, really long time.
So but your average person out there, your average family
(01:11):
who may be in the market for assisted living, they
don't really necessarily understand what that is. So let's talk
about that for a minute. So the assisted living level
of care, let me tell you what it is. Not
it is not a medical model. Here I'm going to
say that one again. The assisted living level of care
(01:33):
is not a medical model. I describe it as more
of a social model. And there's a tremendous amount of
support at the assisted living level of care, and it
primarily surrounds the need for assistance with your activities of
daily living.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
So if you ever hear.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
The acronym or the or the abbreviation a d L,
so oh, you're a d LS. A lot of people
in healthcare speak in acronymology and it's a little irritating
because you're talking to a family. You know they have
no clue what you're talking about, so stop that. So
it's an ADL for I would say an insider's term,
(02:17):
but for the rest of the world, which is the
majority of the rest of the world, it is an
activity of daily living. So they can help you minimally
or fully or anywhere in between with your bathing, dressing, grooming,
and using the toilet. Okay, minimally or fully. You may
not need help with all of those things, maybe one
(02:39):
or two, maybe all of them. Maybe a little bit
of help with this one, a lot of help with
this one. You may just need prompting, today's our shower day,
Oh okay, all right, or you know it's whatever it
might be, okay, So minimally, minimal or full assistance with
your bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, using the restroom. They can
(03:04):
also help you with incontinence support to a point, to
a point, and all of the points are different. Some
places will help out maybe a little bit, maybe not
at all, and some places will help out quite a bit.
So you've got a lot of You've got some variables here,
some a little bit of a wider lane for assisted living.
(03:25):
They also and this one is huge, they will fully
manage and distribute your medications. That's a big one. That
is that's a huge one. And depending on what you're
taking your medication for, it could be critical. Get the
proper get the right meds on time, you know, x
(03:46):
times per day, right, So they do all of that
at this level. They provide all of your meals, snacks,
and hydration. There's a full slate of activities for meaningful
social engagement. There is uh there's transportation that would take
(04:07):
you out to see your doctor or see a specialist.
Most people go for this option. There is usually maybe
one or maybe a couple of physicians and they will
come into the building essentially making a house call. And
it would either be the physician or their nurse practitioner
(04:28):
and they come to you. That's just unbelievably convenient. Okay.
So there is a lot to like about the assisted
living level of care. It's a tremendous amount of care.
It's just not a medical model per se. Okay, So
(04:49):
I mentioned it is not a standardized model so long
term care, and it's governed by the licensure. There's a
long term care licensure as exactly what you have to provide.
They are all the same as far as what they provide. Now,
obviously some long term care communities deliver better than others.
(05:09):
And it doesn't matter what the name on the building is, Okay,
it all comes down to the people, the individuals in
that building. It all comes down to people. Just about
everything does, doesn't it. So if you say, well, you
know company X, Y Z, oh that's a great place.
You could have one of their buildings with maybe a
poor manager, maybe they don't do as well. Can go
(05:31):
the other way. Oh, Steve, aw, I don't know. I've
heard really bad things about you. Know blah blah blah,
and I'm like, well, which location, because I know locations
of blah blah blah that do a fantastic job. So le,
let's talk about that. It always comes down to the
people in that particular building. But as far as not
(05:52):
being a standardized model, I give a lot of presentations,
and I did a presentation this past week.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
It was great.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It was over zoomed to people all over the country.
And I do that all the time. I give presentations
for companies, civic groups, churches. If you're interested in something
like that, reach out and give me a call. We'll
see if we can work out something to do that.
But in these presentations, I use a slide on the
left side of independent living. On the right side you
have long term care, and then a very wide like
(06:22):
the center. Two thirds of this slide is the assisted
living level of care. And here's why. Because it's just
it's not a standardized model. In assisted living, you could choose,
let's say, for example, we'll go on one side and
then the other, so you could choose to provide very
little care. And your marketing and your image that you're
(06:46):
trying to build and create is we're an upbeat community.
We're very active, our residents are independent and involved in
all sorts of stuff, et cetera, et cetera. And they're
in this graphic they're leaning way over towards the left,
almost not quite but in the neighborhood of independent living.
(07:10):
Some assisted living communities are the polar opposite of that.
They're leaning in my graphic, which you can't see on
the radio, but they lean way over to the right,
almost approaching the long term care level of care. And
they'll bend over backwards to keep you in the assisted
(07:31):
living level of care and keep you from having to
move to long term care, and they'll provide a lot
more help and oh, by the way, everything in between.
That's why I think assisted living level of care is
the second most difficult level to go out and try
to figure out and then try to find the best
the best fit for you. You could go out and talk
(07:52):
to five different assisted living communities here, five different stories,
and they're all correct. There's that much leeway in the
assisted living level of care. So again, assisted living is
not a standardized model. You could have some some pretty
big variances there. So what types of care can you
(08:15):
receive at the assisted living level of care, and you
could receive a lot. Okay, you could receive general care,
and I just call it general care, just everyday care assistance,
you know, minimally or fully with your bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting,
(08:37):
and continent support, medication management, et cetera, et cetera, just
everyday care. You could receive memory care at the assisted
living level of care. So that is a resident needing
assistants minimally or fully with their bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting,
(08:59):
and continent support, medication management. And they also have dementia,
they have cognitive issues, cognitive impairment. Okay, so memory care
is a special type of care for a resident with
cognitive impairment.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
It's just as simple.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
I know all kinds of people who go out and say, well, Steve,
you know they have assisted living, but they also have
memory care and that's a different level of care.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Nope, it's not.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
There is licensure for the assisted living level of care.
There is no licensure for memory care. That's the easiest
way to talk about that. So at the assisted living
level of care, you could receive just general care memory care.
You could receive a special care mental health care. You
could receive respite care, which is it's a short term state,
(09:54):
maybe thirty days or less. You could receive hospice care
at the assisted living level of care. Right. So, if
this all sounds confusing, this is exactly why I created
my firm, Senior Care Consulting. If you have questions about this,
if you need help navigating your way through that search
(10:15):
and selection process trying to find the right fit in
the best place available, give us a call. We would
love to visit with you about that and work with
you if you need our help. Nine one, three, nine four, five,
twenty eight hundred or Senior Care Consulting dot com. And
now the Senior Care Live Question of the Week. Skilled
nursing and rehabilitation can be provided at the assisted living
(10:37):
level of care. Is that statement true or false? What
do you think?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. For more information, visit seniorcare Live dot com.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
We'll have more with Steve coming up next.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
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 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
(11:24):
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. You'll spend just 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.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
We work for you.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
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
Seniorcareconsulting dot.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Com and welcome back.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. For more information, go to Seniorcare Live dot com.
All right back to the Senior Care Live question of
the week. Skilled nursing and rehabilitation can be provided at
the assisted living level of care. Is that statement true
(12:27):
or false? And the answer is.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
False?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
The answer is false. So I just talked about the
types of care you can receive at the assisted living level.
You can receive general care, memory care, mental health care,
respite care, and even hospice care. But you cannot receive
skilled nursing and rehabilitation at the assisted living level because
(12:58):
guess what they're licensured not allow for that. See, it's
all about the licensure. So skilled nursing and rehabilitation, that's
a type of care, and the only place you're going
to find that is in the long term care level
of care. Okay, So, and it's paid for by Medicare.
(13:19):
It is a medical service. It is after a three
night overnight in a hospital, three midnights in a hospital,
or longer. Medicare will pay up to one hundred days.
That would be the maximum. Most folks don't get anywhere
near that. Maybe three or four weeks, six weeks would
be a pretty good rehab stay your in and out.
(13:39):
If you're recovering from a stroke or a neuromuscular disease
like one of my clients is currently, it's a very
long long road back to their baseline. You might get
your hundred days for something like that, Okay, but again
that statement is false. All right, So we're talking about
assisted living this week in honor of National Assisted Living Week.
(14:06):
So let's talk about the average cost per month for
the assisted living level of care. Now, you're going to
have a little bit of a range, like you might expect,
and the cost is primarily going to be based on
the size of your apartment and then how much help
you need or how much care. Okay, So obviously a
(14:27):
studio apartment is going to be less than a one
bedroom apartment is going to be less than a two
bedroom apartment, right, and then if you need a little
bit of help or care, typically that will be less
or a lower charge than if you need a lot
of help or a lot of care. So let's talk
(14:49):
about that average cost. We're looking, you know, in the
Kansas City area, six to eight thousand, maybe nine thousand dollars, Okay,
we'll just call it. Six thousand and nine thousand dollars
is going to cover I think, you know, most places,
and I think that's a pretty solid number all around
the country. Now, if you're in a smaller city, it
(15:10):
might be a little bit less. If you're in a huge,
major metropolitan area where the cost of living is pretty high.
I think we're going to see more than that, okay,
but I think a good solid number six thousand and
nine thousand dollars per month. Now let's talk about the
pricing models. We have three primary pricing models. The most
common pricing model for the assisted living level of cares
(15:34):
is referred to as base plus level of care. So
let's say your base charge is So this last week,
I worked with a couple of different clients. We're both
looking at the assisted living level of care. One needed
memory care, the other needed memory care at the assisted
living level, okay, and then the other needed general care
(15:56):
at the assisted living level. So so I just looked
at all this. So a studio apartment at the assisted
living level of care just general care, because memory care
is going to add five hundred to one thousand dollars
onto all these numbers. But for that studio apartment, you know,
it might be anywhere from you know, forty eight hundred
to maybe fifty four fifty six hundred dollars kind of
(16:18):
in that neighborhood. But then you would add the level
of care. Now, most places would have at least three
different levels of care. So the second place with my
clients this past week, they had three levels of care
at most of them. On the day before when I
worked with the nice gentleman looking at some places on
(16:39):
behalf of his mother, most of the place has had
a five different levels of care. Okay, But the concept,
so the first level of care might add you know,
four hundred dollars. Then level of care too might be
eight hundred, might be twelve and sixteen and right, you
see how that goes, or maybe five hundred, one thy, fifteen,
(17:00):
twenty twenty five, maybe max out at three thousand dollars.
So that's the concept. So the idea is that they're
going to do an assessment and then they are going
to assign a number of points for each of those
activities of daily living that you require assistance with, and
they're going to tally up all these points and then
(17:20):
if it falls into a level of care one that
category one, that might add five hundred dollars onto your
level of care, and then if it falls into two,
it might add you know, one thousand dollars or fifteen,
et cetera, et cetera. And the concept is everyone pays
for their apartment, which would include you know, three meals
a day in housekeeping, a laundry, and all the all
the stuff. Okay, and then if you need a little
(17:41):
bit of help, you're paying a little more. If you
require a lot more help and utilize a lot more
resources of staffing, you're going to pay more than the
other person. To try to make that fair. That is
the most common pricing model for the assisted living level
of care. Another one that I'm seeing more and more
(18:02):
of is I just call it a flat fee. They
may refer to it as an all inclusive fee. I
just call it a flat fee for service. And it
might be you know, a studio apartment is eight hundred dollars,
or you know, four hundred and fifty dollars or whatever.
The number is flat rate. Every month, it's the same.
(18:27):
It's the same amount every month you come in. If
you need a little bit of help, it's, you know,
seventy four hundred and fifty dollars. If you need a
lot of help, four hundred and fifty dollars, it's just
the same, okay. My clients love that one. By the way,
it's very easy to budget for, so it's no surprises
(18:47):
at the end of the month, no changes in level
of care, no meetings to discuss as just x dollars
a month. Boom, it just happens, okay. The third one
is a that base charge plus points or some would
refer to that as a la carte. So if you
(19:07):
need help on this day with your shower, that's two points.
If you need help getting dressed, that's a point. If
you need help with this, that's you know, three points,
and they add them all up. It's very detailed, and
they add all of that up, and at the end
of the month they add up those points and it
(19:27):
might be you know, five dollars a point or whatever,
whatever their number is, okay, plus the base and then
you get this very exact price. Now a lot of
my clients don't like that because they're like, oh my gosh,
I got to sort through this, and well, why do
they need this here? And it almost sets up a
little bit of an adversarial conversation or a difficult conversation
at the end of each month. But in their defense,
(19:48):
they're trying to be exact. They want to charge you
for exactly what was provided, no more and no less.
So you see a few places with that base plus
points or that ola carte calculation. Again, most of them
would be a base plus a level of care, at
least three levels of care, if not maybe four or five.
(20:09):
And then you'll see some flat feed for services, and
then the other one that base plus the points or
a la carte. Now, I want to let everyone know
that all assisted living communities have a threshold or a
limit that they cannot exceed, and if your need exceeds
that threshold, you will have to move. So coming up next,
(20:34):
I'm going to review the top ten reasons for an
unwanted discharge from the assisted living community.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. Have a question, visit seniorcare live dot com.
Stick around. We'll have more with Steve coming up next.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Hello, this is Steve Keeker, President of Senior Care Consulting.
I'm so excited to announce that we are expanding nationwide
by awarding Senior Care Consulting franchises. We help our clients
find the right senior care community, including assistant living, memory care,
long term care, and continuing care retirement communities. We are
(21:22):
not another run of the mill free referral service. We're
very different. We offer replacement service with integrity. Owning a
senior care consulting franchise offers many benefits. Our market is
not affected by the economy. Operate from your home office
and enjoy work life balance. Pour your passion into a
business you can be proud of. For more information about
(21:45):
owning a senior care consulting franchise, call eight three three
seven two two three seven two six eight three three
seven two two three seven two six or visit Seniorcareconsulting
dot com.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. For podcast of the program, visit seniorcare Live
dot com or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, So,
as advertised the top ten reasons you could be discharged
from the assisted living level of care. This would be
an unwanted discharge from the assisted living level of care,
(22:30):
maybe triggering that thirty day discharge notice, the dreaded letter
saying we can no longer meet your needs and you
need to find another place. That's not what you usually
want to hear. So number one becoming a two person transfer.
So I'll just share a quick story of a recent
senior care consulting client. They're very upset to receive that
(22:52):
thirty day discharge notice. They were not told of any
transfer limitations. Okay, And what I mean by two for
two person transfer is it would take two staff to
help a resident from point A to point B. They
can all do once one person transfers, but when it
comes to two person transfers most assistant living communities, that's
(23:14):
one of the thresholds. Now, some can do it, okay,
and that's that wide lane that I'm talking about, Okay,
but most of them they're limited to one person transfer.
It's all a matter of having enough staff to do that.
They were very upset to receive that. They were not
told of any of these limitations. And let me just
say this that you know, most of the time maybe
(23:35):
you didn't ask the right question, but they also did
not share some of these limitations and what would cause
a discharge. It's just as simple as that. And again
with senior care consulting, this is never an issue because
we won't let you make that mistake. We just it
doesn't happen with my firm. That's it number two, requiring
(23:56):
too much care. So the staffing model has limitations at
most assisted living communities. And if you need more care
than they can offer. They're just again the languages. We
can no longer meet your needs. And it could just
be that your loved one requires too much care. It's
just exceeding their threshold. Number three in continence care is
(24:19):
becoming more and more necessary. And again most places can
help you minimally with incontinence care incontinence management, but they're
also going to discharge a person if there's too much
incontinence care that would be required. A lot of times
you'll have a memory care issue around that, and it
we require a lot of staff help to keep up
(24:42):
with that and manage it. So that's another potential issue.
If you need a low air loss mattress to prevent
wound care or skin breakdown issues, that could be one
of the reasons if your loved one needs medical care
such as wound care, compressi in wraps for lymphedema. Maybe
it requires a mechanical lift, tube feeding through a peg tube,
(25:08):
urinary cath care, IV therapy, all these sort of things.
This falls pretty squarely into that medical category. Now there
are always exceptions. Can some assistant living communities provide a
mechanical lift and a two person transfer, Yes, yes, of course,
(25:29):
very few and far between, but yes, the answer is yes.
The majority the answer is no. That's why we're getting
these this discharge letter number six. If your loved one
requires pain management, that's more than they can handle. Maybe
they're dealing with pain patches that have to be properly placed,
injections with pain management medications, managing an implanted pain pump,
(25:53):
all of those sort of things. Again kind of lean
toward that medical side of things. That may not be
able to deal with that, and they may decline or
let's say you move in there and then this is
something new for you that that would.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Cause it or could cause it.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Gandrid seven. It could be just as simple as needing
diabetic management with insulin injections. Now, most assistant living communities
cannot offer round the clock diabetic management because a lot
of times they don't have the LPN or RN on staff,
and typically that's going to be an LPN. They're not
required to have an RN on staff. They're required to
(26:30):
have an RN on call. Okay, but you have to
to you if the staff is responsible for physically giving
that insulin injection and they're not staffed for it, particularly
in the overnight hours, that they're not gonna be able
to do that. Okay, some can and will do this,
(26:53):
most do not. Again, it's just it's a function of staffing.
And then number eight, needing help eating your food or
needing a really specialized diet thickened liquids, parade food, or
maybe some other specialized diet that could cause a discharge.
And then there's this.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please, this is a consumer alert,
consumer alert, all right.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
So all assisted living communities care for residents with cognitive impairment.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
So if.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
They don't all offer memory care, they all care for
residents with cognitive impairment. I just worked with the family
earlier this week, and her dad has dementia, but he's
early on with it. No behaviors, no elopement risk, nothing,
none of that. So he'll be just fine in the
assisted living general care area of the building. We also
(27:59):
chose a place that has a memory care unit within
the building, Okay, so that if he should need that
at some point, he just transfers to another part of
the building and he doesn't get discharged. Okay, you see
how that works. If you contact one, they may say,
oh yeah, we offer memory care and that's that's true.
(28:20):
They all they all offer memory care. But even if
they do not have a memory care neighborhood, a separate
part of the building with codes on the doors and
and and all of the things that go into memory care.
And again, all of them care for cognitively impaired residents.
But when the memory issues exceed their limits, and if
(28:40):
they don't have that memory care unit, memory care neighborhood
in the building, you will be asked to move. So
let's say you loved ones doing well at the assisted
living level of care in the general care area. They're
just they're just doing fine, and everything's going great, and
then you'll see a decline in your loved one and
(29:01):
now they're wandering. They're they're walking around and uh and
they're and they're not trying and and god, God love them,
they're not trying to cause any problems. Okay, but they
wonder outside it's zero degrees, it's one hundred degrees. They
may wander away from the building not really you know,
not figure out not able to remember or figure out
(29:23):
how to get back to the building. They put themselves
in harms way. Now they're considered an elopement risk. And
that's that's a problem they have. They're responsible for your
safety and your health and your well being. So most
assisted living communities will have a wander guard system. You
wear this little this little watch like bracelet. If you
(29:43):
get too close to the exit door, it'll set off
in alarm. They can redirect you away from the door
again to keep you safe. Okay, And it's a great
tool that could prevent your loved one from you know,
wandering away or leaving the building unattended and placing themselves
in harm. Wait, however, if your loved one is setting
(30:03):
off that alarm you know, too many times per day,
and if they don't have that memory care unit or
neighborhood within the building, you are going to get the
letter saying we can no longer meet their needs. Now,
if the assisted living community has the memory care neighborhood
within the building, your loved one can simply and easily
(30:26):
be transferred to that part of the building and that
usually takes care of it. So remember, assisted living is
the level of care and memory care is the type
of care.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Proceed with caution. This has been a consumer alert brought
to you by Senior Care Live. All right, So is
this exciting. So number ten, if you run out of money,
you're going to get discharged, period, Steve. Can they do that,
Yeah they can. Most assisted living communities are price it
(31:00):
pay only, not all of them, most of them. So
even if you've lived there for years and years and years,
the second you run out of money, you're out. It's
just as simple as that. I mean throwing a couple
of bonus. I know I said the top ten, but
a couple of bonus. Eleven.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
If your loved one is falling too much, just falling
all the time and really getting bumps and bruises and
maybe even a fracture, do not, and I mean do not. Okay,
so I'm gonna all CAP do all CAP not sign
a negotiated risk agreement. I don't have enough time to
(31:37):
go through that today. But what that says is if
they're asking you to sign an agreement saying you agree
that we're not responsible for all these falls and if
your loved one falls and hurts themselves, we're not responsible.
You're just taking them off the hook.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Don't do that.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
What this is saying is you're not at the right place,
or you're not at the right level of care. Do
not sign that period, thank me later, just don't sign it.
And then number twelve. If your loved one has any
negative quote you know, behaviors, they'll be discharged. It could
be too much wandering, wandering in and out of other
residence rooms, exit seeking. It could be foul language or
(32:15):
inappropriate language with the opposite sex, you know, inappropriate advances
toward the opposite sex, just all those sort of things.
So some behaviors that's going to get you a quick
ticket out the door. So those are the top ten,
and I give you a couple of bonus reasons on
how you may receive an unwanted discharge from the assistant
(32:36):
living level of care, and coming up next, what you
can do to avoid this discharge altogether.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. To contact Steve or a guest on his show,
This is Seniorcare Live dot com.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
We'll have more coming up.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
So you've been living independently at home, but now it's
not working out. It's time to begin searching for a
senior care community. But with hundreds of independent living, assisted living,
long term care, and memory care options, how are you
supposed to determine the best place for you.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
I'm Steve Keeker, and this is exactly why I created
my firm, Senior Care Consulting. I help my own grandparents
through this difficult process, so I know how overwhelming this
can be. Our business model ensures credibility and objectivity. We
work directly for you and we never receive reimbursement from
any provider. We've helped hundreds of family since two thousand
(33:42):
and two, and we can help you and your family
as well. Call today for a free consultation at nine
one three nine four five twenty eight hundred. Nine one
three nine four five twenty eight hundred, a placement service
with integrity at Seniorcare Consulting dot com.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
You're listening to Senior Care Live on the Senior Care
Broadcasting Network. Have a question, visit Seniorcare Live dot com.
All right, so I went through. So we're talking about
assisted living in honor of National Assistant Living Week. It
is an awesome It's a fantastic option for so many people.
(34:32):
They help you with those activities of daily living, minimal
or full assistance with your bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting. They
can help with the incontinence support incontinence management. They order
and manage and distribute all of your medications, make all
of your meals, provide all of your snacks and hydration.
(34:53):
There's a full slate of activities for meaningful social engagement.
Doctors make house calls. There's transportation and to go out
to see doctor's appointments and maybe specialists and that sort
of thing. Tons of help there, but you have to
know what you're getting into because there again there's that
wide lane and some of them provide a lot less
(35:13):
care than others and everything in between, and it's the
second most difficult level of care for the average person
to go out and to try to navigate to figure
out which one is the best one for them. And
we just talked about the pricing models and the average
cost and what is provided, and then we talked about
(35:34):
the top ten actual top ten twelve reasons on what
could cause an unwanted discharge. So what can you do
to avoid an unwanted discharge from the assisted living level
of care and help extend or maximize your stay at
your chosen assisted living community? Number one. Some of this
(35:56):
may sound pretty elementary, but it's true. Ask the right
questions about their limitations. So you got to ask the
right questions. That's why so many people work with senior
care consulting, because we know the right questions, we know
what questions to ask. Most people frankly don't. But if
you ask the right questions about their limitations, there is
(36:17):
no there are no surprises, no concerns. There understand what
you're getting into and how much care they can actually provide.
Number two, if your loved one has memory related issues,
some maybe pleasantly confused, maybe a little bit of memory loss,
it could be something a lot more than that. An
(36:38):
official diagnosis of dementia, the most common form of dementia
being Alzheimer's disease, but there are lots of different types
of dementia. Just make sure that you choose a place
that provides memory care. Not okay again, if you call
a place and you know, can you provide memory care? Yeah,
we can provide care for someone with me loss. Well,
(37:00):
that's not providing a memory care a separate part of
the building, a memory care neighborhood. If that increased care
is needed in the future, if look, if your loved
one has any thoughts about having dementia, or maybe super
early on choose an assisted living community that offers memory care,
(37:23):
and I mean a separate memory care neighborhood period.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Number three, choose an assisted living community that is connected
to long term care. So if your loved one needs
that medical level of care, if their care needs exceed
the threshold of the assisted living level of care, and
every one of them has the threshold, every one of them, okay,
(37:49):
then they can easily transfer in transition to the long
term care portion of that community without being discharged, and
just continue to receive a higher level of care within
the same organization and many times within the same building. Okay.
And then number four, don't get kicked out because of
(38:11):
a lack of funds. Okay. One of my one of
my earliest and one of my first clients, really really
early on, she called up. She was weeping, and she said,
they're going to kick my Grams out. She called her Grams,
and I said, well, what's going on? What's going on?
In long story short, she her Graham. They had paid
(38:32):
like three hundred and fifty thousand dollars something like that
for her care over a long period of time, and
then one day she gets a thirty day discharge. Notice
she thought she did something wrong. Bottom line is they said, hey, shit,
your grandma's out of money, and we don't bill Medicaid here.
We're not Medicaid certified or private pay only. And she said,
I didn't know that, okay, And if I would have
(38:53):
known that, we wouldn't have gone there. We had gone
somewhere else where she could age in place. So I
worked with her. We found her a great long term
care community that was Medicaid certified, that offered excellent memory care.
And it worked out just fine. But it's not exactly
how she thought this would go, and it's not exactly
what she wanted. But we made the best of it.
We did, and we did a good job for her,
(39:15):
and she was very appreciative, and we got her grams
in a great place. But understand the finances of it
all and just do the math and calculate. We do
this for our clients every time we sit down, and
we will do an estimate with this much income coming
in per month, and then X dollars of assets available
to cover that shortfall, and moving to say the assisted
(39:38):
living level of care at X dollars per month, your
money will last you for X months or x years.
Do you think there's a chance that your loved one
could outlive their assets. We have a good conversation about that, Okay,
but do the math. Calculate how long your loved one
(39:58):
can afford to pay privately, and then ask yourself this question,
are you willing to move them again one more time
at the time they run out of money? If the
answer is no, then you need to choose a place
that's connected to long term care and that long term
care portion of the community's Medicaid certified right, and then
(40:18):
just plan for their needs for the long term. And
these are some of the ways that you can avoid
that dreaded unwanted discharge letter.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
If all of this.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
Sounds confusing, that's because it is. It is unbelievably confusing.
And guess what, this is one of the biggest, most
consequential decisions any of us could ever make in our
entire lifetime. We are trusting total strangers to provide the
(40:54):
most intimate of care for our mother, our spouse, our father. Right,
So shouldn't you know as much about this place and
their history, and their staffing and their policies and how
they did on the most recent surprise healthcare inspection, inspection.
Shouldn't you know as much as possible about them before
(41:16):
trusting them to care for this person that you love
so much? And if you agree with me, okay, then
don't do this alone. Don't do this alone, and for
heaven's sake, don't put it in the hands of a
free referral service that gets a kickback thousands of dollars
(41:37):
from the very place that they recommends. That's just not objective,
It's not unbiased in any way, Okay. I would invite
you to reach out to my firm, Senior Care Consulting
nine one three, nine four five twenty eight hundred or
online at Seniorcare Consulting dot com, request a free consultation
(41:58):
and we'll talk to you about that business model. We
work with a very reasonable flat feed for service. We
work directly for you, and we we do not receive
a single penny from any of the providers out there, okay,
And so this is as objective and as unbiased as
it could possibly be. We get along with everyone in
(42:18):
the market, okay, we get along very very well, but
we work directly for you, and I just think this
is a superior business model. Again, if that's resonating with you.
Seniorcareconsulting dot Com nine one, three, nine four five twenty
eight hundred, give me call. Let's talk about that, all right.
I'm Steve Keeker and I wish you grace and peace.
(42:40):
May God bless you and your family on this day
and always join me next week right here on Senior
Care Life.
Speaker 4 (42:51):
Does your business serve the elderly and their caregivers in
our area? 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
(43:12):
Live is currently adding a limited number of partner sponsors,
and if 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 as 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.
(43:36):
Senior Care Live 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.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Quid pro quo a Latin phrase that means an exchange
of goods or services where one transfer is contingent upon
the other. Here's an 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
(44:14):
their money. Does this paid recommendation sound objective or credible?
Of course not. I'm Steve Keeker with Senior Care Consulting.
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
(44:37):
called nine one three, nine four five twenty eight hundred
nine one three nine four five twenty eight hundred. Replacement
service with integrity at Seniorcare Consulting dot com.
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