Financial Considerations & Options
The Cost of Senior Living

As you search for an assisted living community for your loved one(s), you might find pricing comparison to be confusing.

Let us help you understand typical ways that a community might bill for living with them:

Tiered or à la carte pricing or fee-for service - typically includes the different care services that a resident receives on top of the rent of the room, depending on the size and location.
Level of Care - based on how communities structure their level of care, it could be two, three, or four, the higher level of care the higher the price.
All-inclusive - some communities choose to simply charge a consistent fee every month that includes the rent and all the services a resident will receive.

Average Cost

Having a basic understanding and measurement may help you gain a perspective and expectation as you compare prices. The average cost of assisted living varies state by state, city by city, and of course, the level of services that a resident may receive. However, Genworth site has an helpful tool that shows you the average cost of assisted living depending on location.

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Medicare & Medicaid

Many people believe assisted living is covered by Medicare. On the contrary, Medicare does not cover assisted living services. However, it could still help cover other services needed living in the community such as medication, medical services, physical and psych therapies, or outpatient care.

Medicaid, on the other hand, may be able to support on some level but with restrictions. There are different programs in different states designed to help low income families. You will have to check with the community that you are looking at for detail.

Private Pay

Unfortunately, assisted living is not recognized by the government as medical or healthcare services. Therefore, assisted living and memory care are most often paid privately by the family or the residents.

It is important to understand the assets and finances of your loved one(s). Many people consider selling their houses and leverage other pre-planned retirement supplement income to cover the assisted living expenses.

Long-Term Care Insurance

Long-term care insurance is designed to cover services and supports needed when a person can no longer care for themselves whether they live in an assisted living community, at home, or in a nursing home.

Most policies give policyholders the flexibility to choose from a range of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) services such as bathing, dressing, eating, transferring, continence, toileting.

On top of that they could even use the long-term care insurance to cover skilled nursing services, physical and speech therapy.

Veteran

Wartime veterans and their surviving spouses may be entitled to a tax-free benefit called Aid and Attendance.

The benefit was designed to provide significant financial assistance for those in need of ongoing care.

You never have to pay it back and like Social Security, this benefit is dependable and is paid directly to you by the Department of the Treasury.

If you are a Wartime veteran and need help, please check www.americanVeteransAid.com for more information.

Reverse Mortgage

If your loved one is at least 62 years old, their home is close to be paid off, and one of the parents would be staying in the home, a reverse mortgage may be an option.

Instead of paying for the mortgage, the homeowner can cash out on the equity and the bank may pay in full or over a series of payments.

This is a good solution if one parent needs assisted living or memory care services and the other one stays at home.

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Selling or renting the house

Depending on the situation, your loved one(s) may not want to sell the family home or not ready to become a landlord.

However, your loved one’s home can be an asset to rent or sell in order to support senior care expenses.

Life Insurance

You may have a term life, whole life, universal life insurance policy with a significant amount of face value. Many people have purchased life insurance with their beneficiary in mind. Did you know that you could actually turn your policy for your “living benefit” if the current policy does not already have that option? Depending on the features and benefits of your policy, you may be able to leverage your life insurance policy to help you with the cost of care.

If your life insurance policy does not have living benefit riders, you could do something called “life settlement”. In most cases, the insurance company or a third party will “purchase” your policy for 50% - 70% of the face value. You can learn more about it here or contact your insurance agent or company for more detail.

Want to learn more about your financial options?

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Financial Considerations & OptionsThe Cost of Senior Living