what conditions must a ALZ patient have to qualify for nursing care,all the local memory units want 250,000 up front for admittance to assisted living.don't think I could swing that if the need comes up to place AH.right now his health is excellent.
Hi yhouniey Finances are a separate question from whether Assisted Living Facility (ALF) vs Nursing Home (NH) is the right place.
First the finances: Without knowing much about your loved one, whether a stay in a nursing home is paid for by the gov't depends on the amount of assets you have. Generally, assisted living is private pay although some assisted living facilities will have a few "social security beds" for those who are medicaid/medicare dual eligible. NH care is paid for by the state once the assets of the patient dip below a certain amount (which is almost zero it seems like) with ways to protect the well spouse. Other than that it is private pay or LTC insurance paid.
ALF vs NH Generally speaking, a person needs to have some dysfunction in their Basic Activities of Daily Living (BADL) to qualify for nursing home placement (including dementia units). This means they need help with: bathing, dressing, feeding, grooming, ambulation/transferring, continence. If someone can do all of those independently, safely, without reminding then a nursing home will not likely be able to take them. ALF is good for those with deficits in their IADL's (Instrumental Activities of daily living) which include shopping, medication management, financial management, cooking, cleaning, laundry, transportation, and using a telephone. ALF's can make up for the IADL's easily. They struggle with the BADL's. Once a person is on state money for a NH stay, the more dependent they are, the more the NH gets paid. In Pennsylvania, we call it a case mix index. A patient with a PEG tube and a tracheostomy can be reimbursed by the state $200/day. A person who barely needs to be in the NH may only get $70/day for the NH. Some NH like simpler patients, some like more complicated patients depending on strengths. So some NH (like mine) may turn down a lot of simple cases because my administrator wants the more complicated patients. Some patients we may turn down may qualify at other NH.
It is interesting that someone wants $250,000 up front. Is this a CCRC (Continuing care retirement community)? Otherwise it doesn't quite make sense that someone would want that much money up front. That's enough for 2-3 years of NH placement and 4-6 years in an ALF. Usually, a nursing home/ALF will take a patient and when they run out of money, apply for state money or give them a 30 day notice (harsh I know). You can always talk to the admissions person of another facility to learn some more. Best of luck. josh
Thememory enhancememory units that want 250,000 in patients name are the faith based places(mennonite) the private pay one have long waiting lists. My best friend just went into a bretheran unit and they say they figure most people are there 3 years and then will need to transfer to nursing home,if their money is used up they will go on medicaid .I do know all the aspects of medicaid but they do not pay for ALF .We do have a very nice,family owned nusring home near us,I just need to know how bad he would have to be to be admitted to nursing care.