By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing at BMA Management
Assisted Living Communities are designed to bridge the gap between living alone at home and living in a nursing home. Residents benefit from receiving the personal assistance and help with medications they need and from opportunities for socialization and companionship.
Costs can vary widely based on a number of factors.
Location
The MetLife Mature Market Institute notes that nationally in 2009 the average base monthly cost for a one-bedroom assisted living apartment was $3,031, or $36,372 a year. The average fee ranged from a low of $2.041 a month in North Dakota to a high of $5,219 in the Wilmington, Delaware area.In Illinois, the average monthly fee ranged from $2,308 in Peoria to $2,802 in Chicago, $4,228 in the Highland Park area and $2,165 in the rest of the state.
Type & Size of Apartment
Private rooms, semi-private rooms and companion suites usually are less expensive than studio apartments. And studio apartments usually are more affordable than one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.Inclusive, Levels of Care or Ala Carte
Probably what is most important when you are looking at the cost of assisted living is to be sure that you fully understand what is and is not included in the monthly fee.
Some communities charge an all inclusive or a virtually all inclusive monthly fee. No matter how much assistance is required, the amount a resident pays each month remains the same. For example, at all of the affordable assisted living communities that we manage in Illinois the monthly fee is based only on the size of the apartment and the number of occupants; the monthly fee does not increase just because a resident happens to need more assistance.
Some communities use an Ala Carte system. The lowest fee quoted on the price list only covers room, board and a base package of services such as housekeeping, having staff on-duty 24 hours a day, and the opportunity to participate in community activities. Each and every time staff provides help or assistance, an additional charge applies.
To help provide residents with more certainty about the amount it will cost each month, some assisted living communities use what is commonly referred to as Levels of Care. Residents are evaluated to determine the nature and frequency of services that will be required. The higher the level of service and the more often the service is provided, the higher the level of care. The higher the level of care the more expensive the monthly cost will be.
Both the Ala Carte and the Levels of Care systems can add hundreds and sometimes a couple of thousand dollars or more each month to the cost of care. So be sure that you have all the facts. If it is a community that charges on an ala carte basis, be sure to ask how the community verifies that the resident has received all of the services that will be on the bill. If the community uses Levels of Care, be sure you are comfortable with the community’s policies and procedures for changing a resident’s Level of Care.
Generally, the cost of assisted living compares quite favorably to the cost of nursing home care, which in 2009 averaged $72,270 a year ($6,022.50 a month) for a semi-private room and $79,935 a year ($6,661.25 a month) for a private room, according to the Met Life Institute study.
Also, keep in mind that most of the assisted living communities that are operated by BMA Management are affordable assisted living communities that serve older adults of all incomes. Our affordable assisted living communities in Illinois, for instance, operate under a special program called Supportive Living that is especially designed to benefit those who cannot afford private pay assisted living.
At our affordable assisted living communities, residents pay the monthly fee for as long as they have the financial resources to pay privately. For those who do not have the financial resources to afford the monthly fee, either at the time of move-in or at some later date, a financial assistance program is available.
To view the Met Life Institute’s 2009 Market Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Days Services & Home Care Costs, click the link http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/mmi-market-survey-nursing-home-assisted-living.pdf
All affordable assisted living communities managed by BMA Management, Ltd. are certified and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. All assisted living communities are licensed and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“BMA Management, Ltd. is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
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