Who Qualifies For Assisted Living?
While many elderly individuals would rather age at home, sometimes this becomes too challenging over time. Moving to an assisted living community makes the most sense, both financially and for care purposes. Let’s take a look at the qualifications for moving to an assisted living community.
Assisted Living Admission Requirements
Assisted living requirements can change by location, but most qualifications remain the same across the country. Below are five of the most common requirements for anyone looking to move to one of these communities.
1. Medical Needs
The main focus of the staff assessing medical needs is to ensure the community can safely take care of your loved one. Some communities may offer different levels of care that can include round-the-clock checks. However, most assisted living communities are not designed to handle complex medical needs.
Typically, assisted living will come with a nurse on duty but for limited times during the week. The role of the nurse is to oversee the care and med-tech staff, overall. If an individual’s medical needs are too complex for this living situation, they may need to move to nursing home care.
2. Cognition And Behavior
The majority of assisted living communities will have some residents with mild cognitive impairment. Assisted living may accept someone who has severe memory loss, difficulty doing daily activities, or aggressive behavior.
In these situations, assisted living may recommend memory care. These communities are responsible for protecting their staff and community members from any harm.
3. Initial Assessment
Just because you can afford and pay for assisted living care doesn’t mean every community will accept you for admission. Complete admission paperwork will explain fees, responsibilities, and rules for the community.
Nurses typically assess anyone who wants to move to the community. This initial assessment will include a recent history and physical performed by the individual’s primary care physician. Required vaccines and a current medication list are also necessities.
4. Care Plan
Care plans will outline the level of care your loved one needs. This includes nursing responsibilities, amount of assistance, medication administration, dietary needs, and all personal information.
Care plans will also include the individual’s advance directive and living will. The average monthly cost of assisted living care will depend on the level of care recommended. However, this care plan is not set in stone, and is likely to be altered over time.
5. Daily Activities
The initial assessment for the individual includes examining what daily activities he or she needs help with. Possibilities include help dressing, bathing, and other daily activities from the staff.
The expectation is that assistance with these needs can change over time, as will the total cost. Of course, the more care needed, the higher the cost.
Assisted Living Coverage Options
Cost is always one of the biggest factors when it comes to choosing the right assisted living community for your loved one. Prices for assisted living care will depend on floorplans, services, amenities, accommodations, and location. As you carefully select the type of care you’d prefer, you must know how the expenses will be covered if Medicare helps with any of the costs.
Medicare For Assisted Living
Typically, Medicare will not extend coverage for long-term or assisted living care. There are certain situations where Medicare covers qualified healthcare costs at these communities. Medicare is generally used to cover the costs of home healthcare that’s provided by skilled nursing facilities.
Medicaid For Assisted Living
In the state of Arizona, the Arizona Long Term Care System pays for care-related services for state residents living in assisted living communities. The System, however, will not pay for room and board. Assisted living residents will be responsible for different basic living costs depending on their coverage and location.
Other Financing Options For Assisted Living
There are some assisted living communities in Arizona that offer private funding options for residents. If an individual happens to have long-term care insurance, this will cover a portion of the costs associated with assisted living.
In most cases, assisted living residents pay for care out-of-pocket. They fund these services by selling assets like homes or other valuable properties. There is a wide variety of resources and ways that seniors pay for assisted living care.
Assisted Living At Ventana Winds In Youngtown, Arizona
We invite you and your loved one to come and tour our assisted living or memory care facility in Youngtown, Arizona and find out why our residents love to live in our compassionate and welcoming community. Take a look at our memory care page to see pictures, find out more about the facility, amenities, what is included in rent, and more. Call us at 623-323-1796 for more information or to schedule a tour of our facility.