After decades of hard work, everyone wants to spend their retirement years enjoying the best life has to offer, even as we require a helping hand with daily tasks. An Assisted Living community can provide enriching activities and social opportunities that aging alone in the home simply can’t match. The challenge can be paying for it, even after a lifetime of labor and saving.

Rosewood provides prospective residents with information about financial assistance programs with the potential to make the move more affordable. Often, there are resources and flexibility beyond just paying through personal finances, said Jeff Clay, Vice President of Business Development.

With life spans increasing as medical science and health awareness grows, it’s important to plan ahead and make every dollar last as long as it can by spending wisely on good investments. Affording a move to an Assisted Living community is often as simple as getting a bridge loan while selling a home or applying for financial benefits seniors may be entitled to.

For those with many years ahead until retirement, Clay said one payment option is long term care insurance. Some combination life/long term care policies include Assisted Living coverage while some other life insurance policies can be converted. Under certain conditions, veterans and/or their spouses may be eligible for benefits to help pay for some of their care in an Assisted Living residence.
Rosewood partners with companies called Elder Life Financial, Elder Resource Benefits and Life Care funding to work toward achieving these financing options for potential residents who need help sorting it all out.

Clay offered the following advice to those looking at paying for a move to Assisted Living:

• LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE: “Make sure your policy factors in cost-of-living increases and that a grown child has power of attorney before it is needed. These policies are best when purchased in your fifties because they become cost-prohibitive the closer one gets to retirement age.”
• VETERANS BENEFITS: “Once Elder Resource Benefits qualifies the veteran for the Veterans Administrations’ ‘Aid and Attendance’ program, Rosewood absorbs the cost so there’s no charge. It’s our way of giving back to the Veterans.”
• BRIDGE LOANS: “This can help the senior move right away while their home is on the market or renovated to increase its value. The family pays the accumulated low interest once the home sells or the VA paperwork is processed.”
• REVERSE MORTGAGES: “Rosewood does not push seniors toward getting a reverse mortgage to pay for Assisted Living care, but it is an alternative some consider.”

Georgia offers two Medicaid programs to assist low-income residents with paying for Assisted Living Services: SOURCE (Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment program) and CCSP (Community Care Services Program). These programs are Medicaid based and help people pay for services they receive when they do not need the level of care found in a nursing home but do require some assistance with everyday living. CCSP recipients have a monthly income between $400 and $1,809 per month, according to the website GeorgiaHealth.us. It typically takes 2-4 months to be enrolled in CCSP, during which time a bridge loan can help move the senior into Assisted Living.

Alison Beckham, a Community Consultant at Rosewood, said many residents do apply for VA benefits or a bridge loan from Elder Life. “Some residents sell or rent their homes to pay for senior care. When meeting with someone, it is helpful to know if they have long-term care insurance. It has to be comforting when someone has the private funds available to pay for senior care after a lifetime of saving,” she said.

Clay said that “companion living” arrangements are another way some residents are able to better afford living in an Assisted Living community.

For more information, call The Rosewood at Fort Oglethorpe at (706) 866-4443. You can learn more about what to expect with our free consultation and tour. Once you know all of the options, you can make the best decisions for your particular situation.