Top 10 things assisted living won’t tell you.

I was made aware of everything I was being charged for. What Moms room and board will be, they had levels of care and she was charged by the level. They did except Medicaid and I was aware of the 2yr private pay. What I was not made aware of was the % of residents they allowed on Medicaid. Meaning if they hit their limit, even paying privately for 2 years, didn't mean she would have been able to stay. Their contract was pretty simple. There should be a law that contracts need to be written so the common man can read and comprehend them. No small print. You should be able to read the contract once and understand what it says.

It was a good article. I think the problem is that people assume. They need to read very carefully.

Thanks so much for posting this. I hope the admins will move this to discussions, where it will stay most relevant.
I will say that you can tell the quality early on in your interviews.
Do they ask you to stay for meals. Do they discuss meals and dietary concerns. What tours and entertainments can they show you they have/had. What transit to appointments and how does that work cost wise. What costs are not up front. How do they handle payment. Etc.
My brother's ALF in SoCal was wonderful. They told us the fees, explained what the levels of care were, how they were arrived at, what would make them change, what their costs added on to the room fee, they gave option for automatic pay and made it clear it would never change without the resident and the POA knowing, no add ons. Let us know that the raise would be once yearly and would be between 3 and 5% unless something drastic changed (covid was a drastic change). Let us know staffing and how many per resident. Rules. Money safety, and so much more. The time spent with us in the beginning is the reason he moved to that particular place. It proved to be all it said and MORE in that the staff was without exception absolutely marvelous.

I used an independent care placement specialist 3 times. It was invaluable to me. I suggest getting someone local who can work and meet with you. Once I contacted one that was not an independent and quickly I knew they were just a person looking at a computer screen….