Continuing Care Retirement Communities

worknprogress2
Fri, 26 Nov 2010 11:56:52 +0000

Thought I would pass along my recent experiences with my parents and their CCRC. If your parents are considering entering such a community, I have a couple of questions they should ask.

Two years ago my parents wisely decided to sell their home and move into something smaller. We live in an area that is exploding with retirement communities, so they had lots of choices. They were very impressed with an established facility that was in the midst of expanding. It was a church affiliated, non-profit, with a wide range of services. I accompanied them a couple of times as they were investigating. My understanding was that a full range of support was available on campus, and that the fees they would pay (entrance plus monthly) would cover services no matter how they changed.

Dad recently underwent extensive surgery. It became apparent that he would need skilled nursing for several weeks upon discharge. Unfortunately, the skilled nursing beds at their CCRC were filled and after doing a lot of questioning, I found out that they have been filled for over a year. Everyone from their community has been “outsourced.” Now, they were under construction, but as they INCREASED the number of independent living apartments, they decreased (from 170 to 120) the number of skilled nursing beds.

The other issue, is that their fee covers their services when the services become long term. Skilled nursing for dad is not long term, so it is paid thru Medicare and supplemented by his own insurance. Not a major problem, but not what he understood.

In fairness, the marketing materials indicate that residents will have “priority access” to skilled nursing and other levels of service. Unfortunately, my parents (and all of the other new residents) did not understand this language. As a result, my dad is now in a facility that is about 20 miles from where my mom. Mom has some early signs of dementia, so you can imagine how well this is working out. Fortunately, the facility that accepted dad is close to my house, but we were just lucky.

So - here is my advice.

Read the contract very carefully.
Ask what is the ratio of total residents to skilled nursing beds. I can tell you 1000 to 120 is not enough.

Ask how often in the last year someone has not been accommodated on the campus.

Ask what happens IF someone cannot be accommodated.

Make sure you understand exactly what is covered. Spell out specific scenarios and have included in contract.

I regret I did not take a more aggressive role. My dad is very bright and capable, but because it was a church related facility, he was entirely too gullible.