“Where Is The ‘Assistance’ In Assisted Living?,” by Anne Tumlinson, Forbes
“Assisted living facilities evolved to offer consumers an alternative to nursing homes — to provide a safer version of home that prioritizes hospitality, comfort and independence over the constant supervision and medical care of a 24-hour nursing facility. But the problem is that the traditional assisted living model isn’t keeping up with the increasingly complex medical needs of our older adult population. Our parents are living longer with conditions that require a lot of medicine, doctors and too-frequent trips to the emergency room. And we, the adult children, find ourselves managing it all, despite feeling like we’ve paid steep fees to get help. We’re still responsible for coordinating between the assisted living staff, the doctors and the hospitals; keeping tabs on medications and arranging transportation to medical appointments. Many of us have to hire aides to supplement the facility staff’s work.”
LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):
Actually, assisted living evolved as a private-pay alternative to the dismal conditions of Medicaid-financed nursing homes. Now Medicaid is moving into assisted living stressing providers’ ability to manage care because of its low reimbursement rates. Yet this author and her ilk push for more public financing, including Medicaid, instead of tackling the real problem, i.e., too much government interference in the long-term care marketplace and too little incentive to plan responsibly to pay privately for care.
Where Is The ‘Assistance’ In Assisted Living?
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