How to Afford the Costs of Assisted Living
Grace Pointe
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Jun 13, 2023
Colorado - Northern Colorado
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Navigating the costs of assisted living can be tricky. An assisted living community provides your loved one with a socially engaging and supportive environment in which they can thrive. Preparing for this transition, while exciting, can at times be a bit stressful. Formulating a plan for affording the expenses of assisted living shouldn’t feel like an added weight.
At Grace Pointe we want you and your loved one to have the necessary resources to make the process of moving to an assisted living community a smooth one. Here are some of the most common methods for covering the costs of assisted living, coupled with a few helpful resources.
Affording the Costs of Assisted Living
The average monthly cost for assisted living in the state of Colorado is $4,750 according, to the 2021 Genworth Cost of Care Survey. Though that cost may feel daunting, there are many options that make this valuable care more affordable. What does that look like? Let’s take a look.
Savings and Family Support
In many cases, your loved one will use the monies they’ve set up for retirement to pay for assisted living. This can be from a retirement savings account, a personal savings account, or pension payments. In other cases, family members help cover a portion of the costs to help ensure your loved one’s savings cover the duration of their stay in an assisted living community.
Insurance Plans
Depending on your loved one’s insurance, some assisted living costs may qualify for coverage. As our elderly parents often utilize their insurance programs to cover their various medical needs, it’s helpful to know how those programs can help with supportive care programs like assisted living.
- Medicare cannot be used to pay for assisted living as Medicare can only be attributed to short-term, non-custodial care. However, since Medicare’s coverage gears toward health care, your loved one may be able to claim some of the health care they receive in their assisted living community.
- Private health insurance will sometimes cover some of the costs associated with health care and some skilled nursing but often won’t cover the care of assisted living. Contact your loved one’s insurance company for more detail on coverage.
- Long-term care insurance plans often include support for assisted living costs. Though it may not cover the total cost, it can help cover a portion of the costs making it more affordable for your loved one. Take a look at this article for a better look at the benefits of this type of insurance.
- Medicaid, though not technically an insurance program, can help cover the costs of assisted living. A joint federal and state program, it’s designed to help people of lower economic status pay for a variety of healthcare services, including assisted living. Here is a helpful article to better understand the benefits of Medicaid.
Liquidating Assets
There are a few ways your loved one can use their assets, such as home equity and life insurance policies, to help pay for assisted living costs. Some options include:
- Selling or surrendering a life insurance policy. This can be a portion of the policy sold to a third party, or the whole policy surrendered to the insurance company in exchange for a lump sum.
- A reverse mortgage. This option allows your loved one to receive funds from the mortgage lender while adult children or another family member move into their home and take on the mortgage payment.
- Selling or renting their home. In some cases, it may make the most sense to sell or rent your loved one’s home since they will no longer be living in it. This option is a great route for acquiring the funds necessary for covering assisted living expenses.
These options can be a lot to manage. We recommend consulting an Elder Care Lawyer, a financial advisor, or other experts to help navigate the best and most appropriate options for you or your loved one.
Look for Options to Save
As you put together a strategy for covering the costs of assisted living, keep in mind that there are often options to save some money with specials and discounts. Here are a few you can ask about when choosing an assisted living community:
- Ask about specials. Depending on the time of year, move-in rates may be lower, and there may be vacancies your assisted living community is hoping to fill. They may offer discounts to fill those empty rooms.
- Ask about paying for just what you need. Some assisted living communities offer an a la carte option that allows you to pay for just the services your loved one needs. Alternatively, you can pay for an all-inclusive package that bundles the services together.
- Ask about roommates. This is a fairly standard option in Assisted Living Communities. In some cases, shared living spaces are cheaper than a space for just one person. If this is something that would work for your loved one, ask if this is an option.
Grace Pointe Can Help
At Grace Pointe, we want your loved ones to have the care that is right for them, and we understand how tricky it can be to navigate this transition. We offer 100% customizable care packages that save your loved ones from paying for services they don’t require.
Request a free care consultation, and let’s make a plan to get your loved one the care services they need.
- To view the original version of this article visit gracepointegreeley.com/how-to-afford-the-costs-of-assisted-living/
- Seniors Blue Book was not involved in the creation of this content.
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