Senior home care agencies provide caregivers to a person in their residence to assist with everyday activities. These activities include helping someone get up in the morning, showering, cooking, and cleaning. Seniors can utilize this help either for a short time while they are recovering from an ailment, or when things are just becoming too difficult to perform on a daily basis.

There are many cases when seniors can benefit from senior home care services.

• When family members are either gone at work or on vacation.
• When you just get back from the hospital.
• When you’re too busy to perform every household task.

Senior Home Care agencies are more than willing to work out a personalized and detailed plan of service. The office staff will go over everything the times and days of service, what is to be accomplished during those times, and what is to be expected from both parties.
Having someone come into your home might seem like a big step but when you see that it provides extra security for your family as a whole, you might want to consider home care services.

If you or your family thinks in home senior care might be a step in the right direction, you call and discuss the options with a Vida Senior Resource home care representative. They will go over the details with you and offer their knowledge, so you can make an educated decision regarding which route is best for you. If you or your family decides that home care is not the right path, our staff can point you in a direction that will best meet your needs, including assisted living placements.

If you would like assistance or more information you can always call us at 1-866-775-0028, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!

Are you looking into the best options for funding long term care for yourself or a loved one? Chances are, if not now, there will come a time in the future when you’ll be seeking real options. Whether they are looking for elderly home care, an assisted living facility, or nursing home care, the majority of Americans will need help to maintain their day to day functions as they age. Ideally, socking away a small fortune to prepare for the inevitable is ideal. However, if this isn’t an option, there are valid alternatives to help fund long term care. In this post, we’ll be focusing on the Medicaid option. The purpose of this blog is to give a basic overview of Medicaid eligibility, benefits, and potential pitfalls.

Medicaid Eligibility

Medicaid is a jointly funded Federal and State program for individuals with low incomes and few resources. Since Medicaid is administered at the state level, eligibility criteria will vary depending on the state in which one lives. As a general rule, Medicaid recipients applying for long term care must meet the following criteria:

• Limited income. Income eligibility criteria will vary from state to state (long term care Medicaid for your State may have a higher income allowance than straight Medicaid).
• Limited assets. Most States limit assets to around $2,000, however an individual may own their home and a vehicle.
• Functional eligibility. In order to be eligible for long term care benefits, applicants must meet a certain criteria. Generally speaking, they must demonstrate that their is a true need for day to day assistance, that renders them unable to remain independent on their own.

To find out your state’s eligibility requirements, call your local Department of Human Services, or look them up online. Applications can almost always be printed from the websites and mailed in for your convenience.

Medicaid Benefits

So what benefits are available once an applicant has been qualified for Medicaid? For those who wish to remain in their homes, most states offer waiver programs which allow for an array of health care professionals to provide home care services to them in their private residences. These services include the provision of Personal Care Attendants, C.N.A.’s and Registered Nurses. Coupled with case management, these services allow for nearly every facet of senior home care to be provided, allowing maximum independence for the recipient. The trend in recent years has shifted towards long term care in a home and community based setting, allowing for both greater freedom of choice, and offsetting the mental anguish that can come from being uprooted from familiar settings. For those needing a higher level of care, Assisted Living Facilities, and Skilled Nursing Facilities are also available through Medicaid benefits.

Potential Medicaid Pitfalls

There are some important things to consider before applying for Medicaid for long term care. There is a look back period in which Medicaid will not only verify current assets, but all assets over the last 5 years. Simply put, it is not considered acceptable for considerable assets to disappear without coming under intense scrutiny. An experienced elder-law attorney can be utilized to assist families and individuals in setting up trusts and legitimately spending down their assets in order to meet eligibility requirements. Medicaid also has an estate recovery clause that mandates for individuals age 55 or older, states are required to seek recovery of payments from the individual’s estate for nursing facility services, and those enrolled in a Home and Community Based Services Waiver Program. A Medicaid recipient’s assets from his/her home will not be recovered while a spouse is living there. In addition setting up a survivorship deed for a spouse can exclude a home from being recovered even after the surviving spouse has passed.

Medicaid is a viable option for long term care. In many situations, the same level of quality care being provided to persons paying privately, or utilizing long-term care policies is available through Medicaid as well. Many in home senior care agencies, including many of your local Vida Certified Home Agencies accept Medicaid. In addition, thanks to more stringent regulation, the level of quality care at the Nursing Home level has increased across the board. If you are considering Medicaid as an option for long term care, please do your own due diligence, consider the benefits and drawbacks, speak to your local Department of Human Services, and consider all available options.

If you would like more information about Medicaid or need help with a loved one or friend you can always call us at 1-866-273-2995, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!

Choosing an assisted living facility can be a very overwhelming process. In an ideal world you would be able to take time to discover what facilities are available prior to the actual need to move, thus avoiding choosing a facility placement that might not be the best match and also to understand the cost and different sources of funding, and possibly get on a waiting list at the facility of your choice.

Often times the need for facility based care arrises during an unexpected crisis, when there is very little time to identify or understand what options are available.

At Vida, we understand the burden this can place on the family of an elder loved one.  Our Assisted Living Facility Transitions program is designed to “buy” you and your loved one the precious time you need during the decision making process.

Our Senior Transition Consultants can help with both choosing an assisted living facility and also by getting your loved one senior home care services during the “transition period”.

Your Vida Transition Consultant will help you evaluate and choose a facility based on the following criteria.

Initial Assisted Living Facility Considerations:

• What area of town is preferred?
• What is the size of the facility? larger (30+ residents) or smaller home style (2-12 residents)
• Are pets allowed?
• Is smoking allowed?
• Are there private rooms available, or only shared rooms?
• What sources of payment are accepted by the facility?
• What level of care is needed?

Once the assisted living facilities in your area are identified that meet these initial considerations, there are several additional questions to then ask.

Service & Planning

• How often are residents’ needs assessed? Who completes the assessment?
• Are there special programs for memory impaired residents and residents with dementia? Is it a locked area?
• Are there accommodations for memory impaired residents to be outside and exercise?
• Are there special programs for residents with disabilities?
• How are emergency situations managed? What is the protocol for such events
• What happens if the health care needs of a resident change? Under what conditions are residents asked to move if there is a change in health status?

Service & Activities

• Does staff assist residents in administration of medication?
• Does the facility use a particular pharmacy? If so, does that pharmacy participate in the individual’s Medicare Part D prescrition drug plan?
• Are there professional nursing services on site? If not, does the staff assist residents and families in making arrangements through a home health agency?
• Are the services of physical, occupational or speech therapy available or arranged?
• Does the facility provide laundry service?
• Are there beauty shop services available on site?
• What recreational and spiritual activities are available? Obtain and review a copy of the activities calander
• Is transportaion provided for medical appointments and recreational purposes?
• Are there resident and family counsils? How often do they meet?
• Can hospice care be offered? If so, does the facility coordinate that care with the physician and family?

Staff

• What is the resident’s staffing patterns and philosophy about staffing?
• What training and qualifications are required for staff? Are there on-going training programs provided for staff?
• Observe staff and resident interactions. Are they positive? Courteous?

Moving in

• What does the moving in process entail? What are the paperwork requirements and the time frames involved?
• How is the initial assessment managed? Who completes the assessment?
• Is the assisted living facility affiliated with a hospital or skilled nursing facility should acute or long term care be needed? If so, is there a priority admission process?
• If your loved one needs hospital or or nursing home care, is their room held?

Costs & Fees:

• What is included in the basic monthly cost? Ask for a written copy.
• Does the facility have a written schedule of fees for extra services? If so, request a copy.
• Under what circumstance might the fees change? How much notice is given if there is a fee increase?
• Is there a security deposit? What is the refund policy?

Dinning and Food Services

• Does the assisted living facility accommodate special diets?
• Does a dietician review the menus? Request to review copies of the menus.
• How often do the menus rotate?
• Are residents allowed to have guests for meals? Is there a separate guest dining room.
• What are the criteria for residents to eat meals in their rooms?

Living Space

• Are the resident rooms furnished or unfurnished?
• What is the policy for overnight guests? Are there guest rooms available?
• What are the guest fees?
• Does the facility meet the rules for people with disabilities?
• Are pets allowed in the residence? If so, are there additional fees or deposits?

Licensure & Certification

• Is the facility licenced?
• Ask to review documentation.
• If the state requires the administratior to be licenced,is it current?
• Does the staff participate in a professional association?

To learn more you can call us at 1.866.273.2995. You can also fill out the simple online form to have one of our Senior Care Specialists contact you. Get Help Now.

Assisted Transitions is  a senior assistance program that has been active in Idaho for the past 18 months and is now being offered  in Southern California through the VIDA Senior Resource.

The primary focus of Assisted Transitions is to assist seniors in navigating the assisted living facility and senior independent housing maze, enabling them to successfully choose the best option available to them. There are many senior care options available making choosing a facility a very overwhelming process, and often, without knowledge and education, families choose placements that do not always work best. Moving an elderly person into assisted living facility can be a very difficult choice for families, and emotionally trying for everyone involved. To make subsequent moves is even more difficult. Families rely on our assistance to make the first choice the right choice.

We spend a lot of time building relationships with the Idaho and California Assisted Living Facilities, so we are directly familiar with each facility, and what they can offer. This is what sets VIDA apart from other referral agencies, who rely on emailing referrals to facilities and never actually meeting with the people involved.  All clients are walked through the process personally, and the facilities know VIDA to be a reliable and trust worthy senior resource, meeting their needs face to face.

When we receive the initial inquiry regarding assisted living, we collect information about the dynamics of each individuals situation. This best enables us to recommend an assisted living facility that will meet the specific needs of the client including: expense, level of care, and area. From this information and the meeting with the family, we are able to provide a tour of the facilities that we have identified as the best possible options.

Finally we provide a smooth the transition by coordinating and communicating with the assisted living facilities. We are able to assist the client in setting up and completing the assessment process required for admittance. We also assist the client in finding the appropriate available financial resources to offset the expense of assisted living including: medicaid, Veterans Care Assistance, and income based sliding scale rents.

The Assisted Transitions team looks forward to easing the transition to assisted living for seniors. For more information our to receive help you can call us at 1-866-273-2995 or email us.