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I. How We Work in Washington. Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services. APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid. We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour. APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment. You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints. Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights. APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.I agree that: A.I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information"). B.APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink. C.APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site. D.If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records. E.This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year. F.You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
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Mostly Independent
Your loved one may not require home care or assisted living services at this time. However, continue to monitor their condition for changes and consider occasional in-home care services for help as needed.
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She's been in the same place for 2 years. Every 6 months they do an assessment and increase the care tier she falls under. The latest is a 350% increase from when she moved in. I don't believe she is receiving a 350% increase in care.
Many/some ALFs have a rate sheet that gives the additional price of each service; ask for it if this ALF has it. The types of service the resident needs determine the "level" of care. Just a few things that trigger an increase are decreasing mobility, increasing incontinence, need for help in transfers from bed to wheelchair and number of helpers needed for the transfer, etc. etc. --- essentially changes in the resident's condition that require additional staff hours or additional skills. I think maybe you see this situation most often in free-standing assisted living facilities that don't have memory care or long-term nursing sections. But 350% sounds out of line. Ask for a detailed explanation and have them work the figures for you. And don't ask only for an explanation by "level" --- find out what needs and services each level requires.
I know nothing about ALF but that does sound like a huge increase. Is it possible that they are increasing the costs to this degree because she actually needs to be moved to Memory care or NH? Sit with them and have them explain the increases she is receiving in services and not just dollars. Perhaps it’s time to do some comparison shopping?
sarmar, I see from your profile that your Mother has Alzheimer's/dementia. With such a disease the person sadly only gets worse, thus more care is needed.
My Dad was in Assisted Living and all the perks came with the monthly rent which was around $7k per month.
Back when Dad was in Independent Living, there was an options chart if Dad needed more things done for him. Example, his "medtech" was costing $30 per day extra for a Staff person to keep charge of his prescription meds and give him the pills required twice a day. That was an extra $10k per year. If Dad wanted his personal laundry done by the Staff, there was an extra charge. If Dad wanted his meals served in his room, that was an extra charge. There was an extra tier care option that would cost $13k per year. So, it can add up.
Assuming you are her POA you are entitled to know exactly what she is paying for. Having a conference with someone who knows what services she is getting (Director of Nursing, maybe) and someone in charge of billing should explain that huge increase.
Have rates gone up for everyone? Is some of the increase due to increasing needs and some just to rising costs? What does the contract say about rising costs?
I just looked up stats for my state (Minnesota). The average cost of assisted living in the largest metro area is $4050 a month. Memory care is about $1050 a month, on average. Even if your mother declined to the point where she needed full dementia care (except for the security feature) the increase you quote seems extremely high.
Did Mother get some kind of a special promotional deal for a few months, and now she is paying the regular rates? This is just hard to understand. It would be interesting to hear the explanation you get.
I just thought about something my brother brought up when we were looking for a place. He lives down south, and found a place he was asking questions of who were charging 'only' $3000, less than half the rate up here. I poked around and reported what I found: this was a 'for-profit' place and the 3k was the STARTING rate, aka the room alone. Everything else was basically ala carte. Laundry? ding. Cleaning? ding. Food? ding. Assistance with ADLs? probably MULTIPLE dings, depending on what assistance is needed! THAT would easily jack up the costs, and if one jumped from a simple level to a difficult level quickly, all those costs would add up! I did not like the fact that it was 'for-profit', which tends to be inflated costs and low wages (not all places are alike, but one has to consider this!)
Our place of choice was NOT 'for-profit', was an endowed place for the elderly and decision was made to tear down the old facility and build a new one with IL/AL/MC. They opened in stages, with MC being last. It was just in time! She was the first to move in. I am guessing others think it is a very good place as it is currently full with a waiting list of 60!
So, again, you need to have an itemized bill and a face to face with someone (admin, billing, whoever it takes) to explain such a huge increase. You don't list dollar amounts , but just using $2000 (way too low I know, just needed to start somewhere) as a starting point, a 350% increase would be $7000. EVEN I would question if it went from 2-4k, but this is ridiculous, unless she went from regular AL to MC AL. THAT is what they should be providing to you WITHOUT Asking.
We don't have all of the facts here - but if $4050 was increased by $1050 to a total of $5100, then it sounds like her dementia has progressed to the point where she is almost at nursing-home care or "enhanced assisted living." Five grand is pretty inexpensive for that level of care in most places in this country.
But as others have said, you need to sit down with a director and ask for an "accounting" of the various levels of care, what they entail, where your mother falls on their level chart, etc.
Each place is different. Read the contracts. I learned quick!
My da's last place couldn't get any more money in care yet raised his room rate every 6 mos (we started at $6200 and was close to 9K by the time it was over). We moved. So many new places popped up in those 2 years. Now we're in a place where it's all one fee, no matter the care, for $6300 AL/MC. This place has a wonderful chef. However the care seems less, so I used the extra money to hire private care sitters when I'm not there. It's still much less than $9K!
When I first found out about how much elders are being charged, I was really livid. There is no regulation around it, it seems.
After baby boomers, no one will have pensions and annuities and long-term health insurance to be able to afford it. The prices will have to drop....
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
B.
APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
C.
APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
D.
If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
E.
This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year.
F.
You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
My Dad was in Assisted Living and all the perks came with the monthly rent which was around $7k per month.
Back when Dad was in Independent Living, there was an options chart if Dad needed more things done for him. Example, his "medtech" was costing $30 per day extra for a Staff person to keep charge of his prescription meds and give him the pills required twice a day. That was an extra $10k per year. If Dad wanted his personal laundry done by the Staff, there was an extra charge. If Dad wanted his meals served in his room, that was an extra charge. There was an extra tier care option that would cost $13k per year. So, it can add up.
Have rates gone up for everyone? Is some of the increase due to increasing needs and some just to rising costs? What does the contract say about rising costs?
Did Mother get some kind of a special promotional deal for a few months, and now she is paying the regular rates? This is just hard to understand. It would be interesting to hear the explanation you get.
Our place of choice was NOT 'for-profit', was an endowed place for the elderly and decision was made to tear down the old facility and build a new one with IL/AL/MC. They opened in stages, with MC being last. It was just in time! She was the first to move in. I am guessing others think it is a very good place as it is currently full with a waiting list of 60!
So, again, you need to have an itemized bill and a face to face with someone (admin, billing, whoever it takes) to explain such a huge increase. You don't list dollar amounts , but just using $2000 (way too low I know, just needed to start somewhere) as a starting point, a 350% increase would be $7000. EVEN I would question if it went from 2-4k, but this is ridiculous, unless she went from regular AL to MC AL. THAT is what they should be providing to you WITHOUT Asking.
But as others have said, you need to sit down with a director and ask for an "accounting" of the various levels of care, what they entail, where your mother falls on their level chart, etc.
My da's last place couldn't get any more money in care yet raised his room rate every 6 mos (we started at $6200 and was close to 9K by the time it was over). We moved.
So many new places popped up in those 2 years.
Now we're in a place where it's all one fee, no matter the care, for $6300 AL/MC.
This place has a wonderful chef. However the care seems less, so I used the extra money to hire private care sitters when I'm not there. It's still much less than $9K!
When I first found out about how much elders are being charged, I was really livid.
There is no regulation around it, it seems.
After baby boomers, no one will have pensions and annuities and long-term health insurance to be able to afford it. The prices will have to drop....
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