Shop around and be aware of your options for assisted or nursing care facilities

Tribune-Star (Terre Haute, IN)

July 26--Outliving personal savings has become an ever-increasing concern in times of economic change. Not only for folks nearing retirement age, but also for their adult children who may one day have to take over care decisions for Mom and Dad.

In the Wabash Valley, the cost of assisted living and skilled nursing care is keeping pace with the rest of the state and the Midwest, statistics show.

The statewide average ranges from $100 to $339 per day, with an average cost of $215 per day, according to the website PayingforSeniorCare.com, which figures that Lafayette has a per day average of $233, while Bloomington has a $205 average, and Columbus has a $220 average.

In Terre Haute, the average per-day cost of nursing home care ranges from $179 to $255 per day, with the average being about $220 per day.

Using the $220 per day average means a monthly cost of $6,600, or an annual cost of $80,300 for skilled nursing care.

Assisted living can be easier on the savings account, with a cost range of $2,500 to $4,400 per month, and an average of $3,360.

But all of those costs are depend on the level of care received.

At Area 7 Agency on Aging and Disabled -- which covers Clay, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties -- Gloria Wetnight keeps track of the options available and long-term care costs in the Wabash Valley. The six-county area has 23 skilled nursing home facilities. The number of assisted care facilities is limited but growing.

Vigo County has six assisted living communities, while Putnam County has three, and Sullivan County has one. Clay County has two assisted living facilities under construction, with an existing nursing center planning to add space for assisted living. Parke and Vermillion have no assisted living facilities available, Wetnight said.

More care options do exist, such as in-home, respite and day care services, which are designed to give caregivers a break.

"Shop around, not only financially, but also for the best fit, because all facilities are different," Wetnight said. "Even in just the levels of care, there are many differences."

For instance, McMillan Adult Day Services, which is operated by Area 7 Agency, can be cheaper for a family than placement in a skilled nursing facility. The day services come in handy for many caregivers who are employed outside the home. It is an alternative to long-term care facilities for adults and individuals with disabilities who cannot be left alone during the day, but who do not require 24-hour-a-day nursing care.

The average cost is $12.24 per hour for the day service, Wetnight said, with an average daily rate of about $80.

Wetnight said she encountered the intricacies of paying for skilled nursing care with a family member a few years ago.

Medicare will only pay for 100 days of skilled care, which helps many people going through rehabilitation from joint replacement surgery. But at some point, Medicare coverage ends and a person must pay for their own care with their own savings or insurance.

If personal funds are not available, the person must apply for Medicaid. If the person receives monthly social security benefits, all but $52 of that monthly amount must go toward nursing home care. And, Wetnight noted, that $52 should be spent for extra care items such as haircuts and personal items. It cannot be allowed to accumulate over time, or else the person becomes income-ineligible for Medicaid.

At Terre Haute's newest assisted living community -- Harrison's Crossing Health Campus on Eighth Avenue near Third Street -- the cost of care is in line with the local and state averages.

Harrison's community service representative, Wendy Winterberg, agreed that finding the right fit for a person's health care needs is important when choosing an assisted living or health care community.

Harrison's Crossing offers a modern therapy gym, which not only provides range-of-motion and physical therapy, but also occupational therapy with a model kitchen, bedroom and bathroom so a resident can practice and improve mobility skills in a home environment. And outdoor therapy area has stairs, an incline ramp and rocks to test balance on different surfaces.

In the assisted living area, the smallest studio is $118 per day, while a studio deluxe is $140 and a one-bedroom unit is $160 per day. Those costs include meals, cable television and phone service, as well as 24-hour nursing care and medication management. Higher levels of care can be added at more cost.

In the long-term care center, a semi-private room is $223 per day, while a private room is $255 per day. The facility also has 10 Medicaid beds, and accepts veterans benefits, long-term care insurance and other forms of insurance, Winterberg said.

Resident Joe Claretto said he moved from his own home to assisted living after his second open-heart surgery, and at the urging of his three sons who didn't want their father living alone any longer. He didn't cook and was dining out every night, too.

"You get fed well here," the retired pharmacist said. "Moving here has been a great option."

He receives free transportation to doctor visits as well as laundry service and recreation. A long-time fan of the Indianapolis 500, Claretto said he made it to 56 races in a row, but has missed attending the greatest spectacle in racing the past two years, though his sons still attend the race and watch it with him later in the evening on television.

Claretto still gets around pretty well in assisted living, and his family has peace of mind now that he is not living on his own.

Making the transition into assisted living was the choice one Terre Haute couple -- whose privacy is being preserved with the pseudonym "The Smiths" -- made after the wife became disabled and the husband was no longer able to care for her at home.

Mr. Smith said the couple moved from their condo at Fort Harrison Villas to the nearby assisted living units at Cannon Inn more than a year ago, so that Mrs. Smith can receive the care she needs when she needs it.

"If it's 2 in the morning, and she needs help, we get it here," he said.

Fortunately, the couple has been able to privately pay for their housing and other needs.

"We found right at the beginning that they have, for example, a set rental price, but then a second person is extra, and if you need special care then there is another added cost," he said. "If she gets her hair done, or we have guests in for meals, which we do because we have children who visit, then that is added on."

The total cost comes in around $4,650 per month, he said.

Medical expenses such as doctor visits and hospital stays are additional expenses.

Before the couple moved to assisted living, they did some comparison shopping of facilities. The cost of living in the senior condo was about $3,000 per month, he said, and they found the upgrade in services that they received matched the increased cost.

Mr. Smith had experience from his own parents, who spent their last seven or eight years living at Westminster Village in the early 1990s.

Smith said his father lived to age 100, and his mother was 92 when she died. After selling their modest home, they moved into a two bedroom, two bathroom unit at Westminster Village on the city's south side. They had to pay about $50,000 at the time they moved in, Smith said, and then there were extra fees that they paid from their monthly social security benefits.

After his mother died, Smith said his father transitioned into assisted living, then to nursing home care at the same facility.

His parents had been "savers" who planned for retired life, he said, adding that too few young people these days plan ahead or start saving early enough.

"The day they step out of their father's or mother's house, they better start thinking about it," he said of retirement costs.

Area 7's Wetnight agreed that beginning to save early is key.

"A lot of today's generation are not being taught to save," she said, "and some people become ill long enough that they have no assets left when it comes time to upgrade their care. "

For more information about services for older adults, call the Area 7 Agency on Aging at 812-238-1561.

Lisa Trigg can be reached at 812-231-4254 or at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at TribStarLisa.

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