My mother is 84 and has been in AL for 5+ years and she currently pays just over 7k a month. This includes everything - all ADL help needed, medication management, apartment cleaning, and all laundry including bedding that she wets every night. We live in a hcol area so this is the general rate for this type of care. She is very happy there and is well cared for.
Shes been in rehab for a month after another COPD flare up and while we plan to have her go ‘home’ next week I’m very aware that she may need more care than they can give her there. Which leads me to decide what do do next?
I could hire someone to stay with her during the day, every day but after crunching numbers that would come very close to full time nursing. She could go back to the rehab/SNH and we would self pay but I believe the rate is 15K per month. She had 4 years of LTC insurance that just ran out (unbelievable policy that doesn’t come close to even existing today) so I believe if she close SN it would be 100% private pay.
She is fairly comfortable and could self pay for a number of years - it just seems like such a crazy amount. It it common to self pay? Are there better options to care for her and maintain a good quality of life?
Living with me or my brother is not an option.
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That amount was the accumulation of her frugal life style and my father’s decent salary.
It was all her money and used for her care.
In home care was much cheaper, but not nearly as successful for her as a wonderful experience in her NH.
Medicaid will not cover her NH until she is essentially broke. It is for people that truly cannot afford to pay for their care.
Transferring any assets at this point will not get her approved for Medicaid, it will throw up red flags and cause problems.
Have you done a new assessment to be certain what her new status is? This could help you figure out how much additional assistance she requires and go from there. She may not need someone all day, maybe a couple hours in the morning and afternoon.
If she is doing well where she lives and you can keep her there, I would recommend that. Yeah, she may run out of money and then you are forced to make different decisions, but she may die before that happens. If you can give her the gift of stability and some quality of life, that is the most you can hope for at this point.
Anyway.. the home care was way more expensive then even the memory care.. and that is with me taking a shift every day.
So cost is one option to think about as well.... even though both options are expensive.. I found home care way more expensive.
I would consider moving her to a Nursing Home to minimize the inevitable transition again ...and hiring private care in the AL can be challenging. I tried that, and sometimes it decreases the amount of care that the AL is doing because they see someone there all the time. It is like "double paying" for services.
I moved my Mom from AL/MC to a semi-private NH (we are in NC) and the private pay rate is half what you are quoting. I would also consider consulting with an Elder Care Attorney who could help you explore the possibility of filing for Medicaid so you won't have the fear of running out of funding for her care.