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I am considering this for my parents to try to get ahead of it the best I can and let a professional take the reins. I was a financial person in my former life and saw the value of fee for services when you don't have the time or inclination. The person is a "CMC, LNHA, Gerontologist"




I'm afraid of making a mistake. It's $180 per hour. She is local so would know of all the local options, rather than me calling all these different places and glazing over from sales pitches. Even calling the lifeline folks today it felt like she was angry that I said let me make sure my parents are OK with this set up.
Anyway, if anyone has successfully or unsuccessfully used one, pros/cons, learnings, I would love to hear about it. Thanks.

I'm an elder, and I hired a GCM to do an assessment and recommend what I (age 87) and my husband (94) might need in the near (and extended) future. It was pricey, but she has access to care facilities and resources that would likely take me or our family hours to find (if we even could). Her hourly rate is high, but I hope that we won't need to use a lot of billable hours. I think it was worth the cost and could be even more so if we need to make a move. She didn't think we do currently.

The county aging services in our area are pretty much income-based, and we don't qualify at this time although we could down the line if we live much longer!
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Reply to ElizabethAR37
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AlvaDeer Aug 11, 2024
Elizabeth, Thanks for this. Can you tell us how you FOUND the GCM? Was that through your local County Aging Services or through your Doc? I never know where to tell folks to go to get a GCM. I am so curious also as to what this cost you. I so agree that they have information you would not get elsewhere and otherwise!
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I would be very cautious. Some Geriatric case managers claim to be able to assist with such a vast range of issues. These are typically LNHM, licensed nursing home managers or CMC, certified case managers. Gerontologists are physicians. Claims of being able to determine financial or legal needs or assistance with family conflicts should be warning signs. The scope of work should pertain to assessing health care needs, presenting options and connecting you with resources.
I would never pay someone $180 an hour for that. Your local council on aging is a great resource and it’s free.
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Reply to RLWG54
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A friend of mine used one and was very pleased with the experience, but she was in MN and her parents were in FL.

Who will be paying for the GCM? Hopefully it will be your parent's expense. Are you their PoA? If not, I'd be very careful about plunging money into care solutions when you don't have complete legal representation for them. And, unless you are literally a multi-millionaire, you won't be able to sustain paying on their behalf without depleting your own coffers for your own care.

I get that it is very time-consuming to provide the management. I'm a business partner with my husband, and much of what I do aside from my actual professional work revolves around bookkeeping for the business. It's boring and I dislike it. Now we're PoAs for 3 of our elders. More management. Even though we're now semi-retired and have a more flexible schedule, their care needs keep ramping up. One of them is in FL and we're in MN so I travel down there at least once a year to make sure everything is copacetic and matches my management efforts the rest of the year.

Maybe think about what you absolutely don't want to do and outsource that. But again, only if your parents are willing to pay for it, can pay for it, or you have robust resources.

In the end, the GCM will still need your input and participation on certain things no matter what. If you are PoA and it is active for one or both of your parents, it may make more sense to attempt to transition them into a good IL/AL community where they also have MC and LTC and accepts Medicaid.

Will your parents accept working with this "stranger"? Please continue to look through this forum: there is much to know and you seem to be at the beginning of this journey. There is a lot of great advice and wisdom to be found here. I wish I had found this forum back in 2016 when both my inlaws were broke, sick and falling apart.
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I have found its worth it. Luckily my dad has enough money to afford it, so of course have to factor that in. I have the person help out with things, research into things needed, caregiver agencies etc, and communicate with assisted living and help be a bridge between the facility and me etc. Mostly behind the scenes stuff, but she will visit my dad 1-2 times a month just to continue the familiarity and so that he knows who she is. She is really good with the elderly, and as you mention, knows all the local agencies and professionals/ stores related to elder care. So its just a couple/few hours a week of charged time, fortunately. For this purpose, I have found it helps a lot. Also, if I have to travel out of town for work, she can do more, sort of be on "emergency call", go to ER with dad if he had to go when I'm out of town etc. So, as with many professionals, if you find the right one who works well with you, and fits in with your care plan philosophies, I think it can be well worth hiring one.

I know that some people use them when there is no family nearby where the elderly LO is. In that scenario where the geriatric care manager is doing virtually all the hands on work, it could cost way more/ many more hours.
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Many states have Senior Referral Agents that help people find next step housing. It is free to the clients - the agent earns a referral fee from the community the client moves into.

Great service and in some states they must be licensed by the state, have background checks and insurance.
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Marcia22 Aug 10, 2024
I have a Senior Referral Agent. She's very sweet!
Thought we had a place lined up for my Dad. After doing the care evaluation, my dad can't afford that. So waiting to hear from another home.
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We have one recommended by our Elder Attorney. We did our own research before hiring them and found pricing is all over the place, We chose the one recommended by our attorney at 60.00 per hour and have very glad we did.
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casole Aug 11, 2024
That's a very good price.
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I have researched hiring Geriatric Care Management Company with trained registered nurses. They charge $175 in Plano, TX. Under a contract that you can cancel. I say go for it because if your elder is able to have better care to live at home that is best. Personally, I feel that if they are in 90’s and can live in their own home, it is less change for them. However, it is lonely. The Geriatric Care Manager should be able to help.
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As far as " I'm afraid of making a mistake." - that may not be an issue. See what the contract is that they want you to sign, and even then it may be negotiable.

For the one I hired, the contract says that essentially I can terminate the relationship at any time, and only pay for the hours actually used. So that kept it "minimal risk" at first when evaluating how helpful the GCM was (as I posted below, she has been helpful)
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casole Aug 11, 2024
Thank you so much for your input. By mistake I meant in their care. Wasting precious time going down rabbit holes as this is my first rodeo. The advice I'd want would be "let's explore this as a cause vs this based on the many clients we've seen" or "we think x, y, z homecare agency is good for your moms particular situation". Not to blindly follow but get some informed vetted local options. The health care system is simply not designed for this. I have capacity to take them to appointments etc. It's the surrounding support and medical guidance I need help with.

This particular GCM has no minimum amount of hours and bills in 6 minute increments (so I'd better learn to keep it concise!)
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We have used one for years. When mom was fairly independent. even though mom now has live in care , I still use the care manager who manages moms medicines and her multiple MD appts . She also directs the aides as to medication management and multiple hospital transfer etc . We live 4 hours away and knowing I can call her in an emergency is critical to my mental health .
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I reluctantly hired one at the behest of a counselor, and it turned out to be great advice. The geriatric care manager I hired described herself as sort of a ‘concierge sibling’ ( my own sibling is AWOL ) and her connections and knowledge really help.

She’s expensive, and in the beginning I took in a lodger to pay for her until I could get finances sorted to pay her out of mom’s bank acct. I utilize her services fairly sparely as a result of cost, but she has seriously saved my bacon a few times. In particular when I got covid and mom had an emergency, another time I was sick and mom had another emergency. This GCM lives closer to mom than I am.

I found her by calling the memory care place another relative was living in, then the GCM and I met in person to see if it was a match.

Absolutely best decision for me - having a backup ‘sibling’ with geriatric experience is huuuuuuuge.
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