Assisted Living Utah Blog

If you are trying to find the best assisted living community in Utah for your situation, you need to know what your options are. You need to know what the criteria is for assisted living, you need to know what the different options cost so that you can determine if your financial resources are adequate for the time period you need the service, and you need to know which community is closest and/or has the service that you need and want. Too often, I have families come to me with questions that should have been answered months and years ago. For example, two days ago I received a call from a distressed lady who had been caring for her parents in her home. Her mom is “brittle diabetic” and her father’s dimentia is progressing rapidly. She is is stressed out and to the point that she is frustrated with her father’s behavior, her mom needs some peace and quiet in order to heal properly from a recent injury, and she (the daughter) is not enjoying her relationship with her parents as much as she was before having to care so much for their needs. She is becoming exhausted. Finances were definitely a concern although she still wanted to look into assisted living options. I put her in contact with a smaller community since they are inexpensive when compared to larger communities. I also spoke to her about a company that provides home health and hopsice. It’s a company that I’ve used as an administrator in my assisted living community and have had nothing but the best service and care for my residents. Because her mother is brittle diabetic and receiving insulin, she qualifies for home health and this allows a registered nurse to come to her their home, take the blood sugar as needed each day and then provide insulin as needed as well. They can potentially provide a C.N.A. to come in and help with showers a few times a week and offer other valuable services that are all covered by Medicare. Options were given, choices were made, and she is now able to get some relief and assistance in this stressful time her life. Prior to our conversation, she had no idea that these options were even available. At AssistedLivingUtah.com we are happy to share the years of experience in assisted living and in the healthcare industry with those that are in need of the information that will save time, money, and stress.

The question that will Medicaid or Medicare pay for your stay in an assisted living facility in Utah is common. The answer is simple. Medicare will not pay for assisted living, but Medicaid can. Let me explain how Medicaid can pay for your assisted living costs. In Utah, there is a program that was called Flexcare (recently changed names to New Choices Waiver). In my humble opinion, I would much rather have my parent in an assisted living facility as opposed to a skilled nursing facility. I’ve worked in both and assisted living is almost always more homelike and less like a hospital. Having said this, how do you become eligible for the New Choices Waiver? First of all, you would have to already be eligible for the Long-Term Care Medicaid program and you have to be in a skilled nursing facility for 90 days. Once you are on the Long-Term Medicaid program in the skilled nursing facility, you would contact a representative from New Choices Waiver (again, this is the program that pays for assisted living. It’s like a branch of Medicaid) so they can assign somone from their department to meet with you and get the paperwork complete for the application and assess whether or not you are eligible medically. Once you are on the New Choices Waiver program, you and the case manager from New Choices Waiver would look for an assisted living facility that has a bed available for this program. Depending on how full their building is, this will determine whether or not they will accept you. If they only have a couple beds available, they will often keep those apartments for someone who will pay privately since it would make them more money; however, if they have several rooms available, they would most likely be willing to have someone come in on the New Choices Waiver program. So will there be any cost to you? Of course (as always). This cost is negotiated between you and the facility. Basically, the New Choices Waiver program pays for the “care costs” and you have to pay for the room and board. This amount is typically anywhere between $400 and $800, but it could vary from this as well. This is just typically what I’ve seen in my experience. For the best contacts to Utah’s Medicaid and New Choices Waiver, contact us.

For more detailed advice, visit us at AssistedLivingUtah.com. Don’t hesitate to call us either. We do not charge you anything for advice and we don’t try to sell anything to you. I guarantee it. Call (801) 492-4115 or toll free (866) 979-9989. You can also email us at Admin@AssistedLivingUtah.com.

Medicare is the government plan to pay for someones stay in a hospital, skilled nursing facility, and some other medical expenses such as Home Health or Hospice. Usually the individual has to be at least 65 years old to be eligible for Medicare. Medicare will not pay for assisted living which is often news to someone looking for assisted living.

There is Medicare Part A, Medicare Part B, and Medicare Part D.

Medicare Part A is the one that will cover your stay in a hospital and your stay in a skilled nursing facility. It will usually cover 100% of your hospital stay and then if you go to a skilled nursing facility, it will cover 100% of your first 20 days and then 80% of the next 80 days (it will no longer pay anything after 100 days). Also, in order for your stay at a skilled nursing facility to be paid by Medicare Part A, you will usually have to have a “3-day qualifying stay” in the hospital. Ninety percent of the time, the way that someone will be able to use their Medicare Part A will be due to a major hip replacement, surgery from a broken hip/knee/or other major medical onset. This will usually cause the individual to stay in the hospital for 3 nights, thus qualifying them to have Medicare Part A pay for their stay in a skilled nursing facility while they rehabilitate.

Medicare Part B is the one that will pay for your home health (a company that might provide help with physical therapy in your home or in an assisted living facility). If you are still in a skilled nursing facility and have used up your 100 days of Medicare Part A, you could continue to receive the different therapies (Physical, Occupational, Speech, etc) as long as they assess you and you meet the guidelines and this will be covered by Medicare Part B.

Medicare Part D is the one that helps pay for medications.

For more detailed advice, visit us at AssistedLivingUtah.com. Don’t hesitate to call us either. We do not charge you anything for advice and we don’t try to sell anything to you. I guarantee it. Call (801) 492-4115 or toll free (866) 979-9989. You can also email us at Admin@AssistedLivingUtah.com.

Are there ways that I can safely save on costs in assisted living?

Of course there are. One of the best ways that I’ve seen residents save costs is if they only require assistance with showers. Instead of paying the community for that extra service, many residents are eligible to receive physical therapy from what is called Home Health. Home Health is covered by Medicare 100% almost always and can be used in an assisted living community. Most if not all residents that move into assisted living straight from the skilled nursing facility (a.k.a. rehab facility or nursing home) are eligible to have Home Health up to several weeks. So, they might be able to receive physical therapy from the therapist and the Home Health agency can also provide an aide that will come about three times a week who can help with bathing. Again, this would be covered by Medicare.

To save costs, you’ll need to know what all of the potential costs will be in assisted living. This is an area we can help you in.

For more detailed advice, visit us at AssistedLivingUtah.com. Don’t hesitate to call us either. We do not charge you anything for advice and we don’t try to sell anything to you. I guarantee it. Call (801) 492-4115 or toll free (866) 979-9989. You can also email us at Admin@AssistedLivingUtah.com.