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BMA Blog |
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Touching Lives · Providing Dignified Lifestyles
Posts Tagged ‘Assisted Living Federation of America’
Thursday, May 9th, 2013
By Rick Banas of assisted living and senior living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
 John O’Leary cautioned those of us attending his keynote address at the Life Services Network’s (LSN) 2013 Annual Meeting & Exhibition about a couple of pictures that he was about to show.
John is President of Rising Above. LSN is the largest elder care association in Illinois and the state affiliate of Leading Age and the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA).
He was talking about growing and thriving through adversity, igniting your life, and making a difference in the lives of others.
John is living proof of the message he delivers.
The pictures that John was about to show those attending the keynote address, were of John lying in a hospital bed when he was nine years of age. Burns covered 100% of his body. Nearly 90% of the burns were third degree. His chances of making it through the night were less than 1%.
He was an adventurous boy who had been playing with gasoline in the garage.
He endured months in the hospital, including a five-month period in which his arms and legs were strapped down. He underwent dozens of surgeries and spent years in therapy. All of his fingers had to be amputated.
Today, he is a business owner and international speaker, who defines his greatest success in life as marriage to his wife, Beth, and their four children.
What I most noticed about John during this presentation and in meeting with him afterward is his remarkable spark for live.
What I will remember most were his comments and stories about the Powers of Love, One and More.
 Igniting your life so that you thrive both professionally and personally starts with the Power of Love. A heart on fire is powerful.
The Power of One reflects the ability of each of us individually to change the world. In John’s case, it was the Power of One plus One. He talked about the two individuals, each acting alone, who had the biggest impact on his recovery. The individuals were a care aide and Jack Buck, the announcer for the St. Louis Cardinals. John is a native of the St. Louis area and a big Cardinal fan.
The Power of More reflects a focus on what more can I do for myself and for others. After you do something for someone, ask yourself what else can I do to make a difference.
As John said, everything you do has the power to push people down or pull people up.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
Tags: adversity, ALFA, Assisted Living Federation of America, assisted living illinois, bma, Business Owner, Igniting Your Life, International Speaker, John O'Leary, Keynote Address, Leading Age, Life Services Network, Life Services Network's 2013 Annual Meeting & Exhibition, LSN, Making a Difference, Power of Love, Power of More, Power of One, Rising Above, senior living, St. Louis Cardinals, third degree burns
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Tuesday, June 5th, 2012
By Rick Banas of assisted living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
 I sat in awe last month, listening to William Strickland Jr. kick off the 2012 annual Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA.org) conference with an inspiring message of hope.
Bill grew up in an inner city neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A high school art teacher and a revolving mound of clay on potter’s wheel changed his life. He went on to graduate from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in American history and foreign relations. For the past 40+ years, his work as head of the Manchester Bidwell Corporation has helped make the impossible possible in his hometown.
Manchester Bidwell operates two subsidiaries. The Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (MCG) serves as a national model for providing hope and educating young people. The MCG Youth & Arts program and the MCG Jazz program serve nearly 4,000 young people each year through classes and workshops in ceramics, photography, digital imaging and design art. The Bidwell Training Center offers Associate Degrees and diplomas in the fields of culinary arts, chemical laboratory technologies, health care, horticulture and office technology.
Despite not having a degree in education, Bill is nationally recognized as a visionary in the field. What he has, is much more valuable, he says – a degree in common sense.
In recognition of his contributions to the arts and the community, Bill has been honored with the coveted MacArthur Foundation “Genius” award.
Here are a few of his insights that caught my attention:
The way you treat people and the environment drives behavior. Beautiful environments create beautiful behavior. Treating people with dignity also is essential.
 A visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, helped inspire Bill. One of the results is that the MCG building is flooded with sunlight.
The MCG building is located in an inner city neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Artwork appraised at $200,000 is on display. The building has no security cameras and no metal detectors. There is no theft or graffiti.
Bill worked as a pilot for Braniff Airlines in the early 1980s, flying 747s. Great job, wrong airline.
We have fresh flowers in the school every day. You don’t need a task force to figure out how to provide fresh flowers. He launched a horticultural program.
We do not serve students “fast food.” Instead, students dine on gourmet foods courtesy of the culinary arts program.
Our country is graduating kids from high school that can’t read the diplomas they receive.
People on welfare are liabilities; we are working to convert them into assets.
Building partnership with businesses is essential. The focus has to be on what you can do for business, not on what you need.
One of the ways we know that our program is starting to take effect is when we see that the students are pulling their pants up. We know they are hooked when they put on a belt. With Bill’s success in making the impossible possible in Pittsburgh, he is now working to change our planet by developing similar centers in other locations inside and outside the United States.
For more information on Bill,
visit bill-strickland.org
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
   
Tags: ALFA, Assisted Living Federation of America, assisted living in Illinois, Assisted Living Provider, Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater house, making the impossible possible, Manchester Bidwell Corporation, Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, MCG Jazz Program, MCG Youth & Art Program, Rick Banas, The BMA Blog, University of Pittsburgh, William Strickland Jr
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Wednesday, May 30th, 2012
By Rick Banas of assisted living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
As part of its ongoing effort to fight ageism, the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) sponsored its second annual Short Film Competition on Ageism.
Seventy-six films from 15 countries were submitted for consideration.
I was in the audience at Community 2012, ALFA’s annual conference, for a screening of the film that was awarded First Place honors.
The film, “Life is a Ball,” was created by Zac Greenbaum of Pilotfish Productions, LLC.
The film emphasizes that aging is something to embrace. Life is a ball; we should get the most out of it no matter our age.
I invite you to take 3 minutes and 51 seconds to see Zach’s creation for yourself.
If you would another reason to feel good about life, I also invite you to take a look at an inspiring video that was shown at ALFA’s Community 2012 conference. The video features residents of Clark Retirement Community in Grand Rapids, Michigan, lip dub (lip singing) to Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good.”
To produce the video, which has been recognized by the Most Watched Today website as the first ever senior citizen lip dub, the retirement community teamed up with students, alumni and faculty of Grand Valley State University.
Let us know what you think.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
Tags: Ageism, ALFA, ALFA Short Film Competition on Ageism, Assisted Living Federation of America, assisted living in Illinois, Assisted Living Provider, Clark Retirement Community, Life is a Ball, Lipdub, Michael Buble Feeling Good, Pilotfish Productions, Rick Banas, The BMA Blog, Zac Greenbaum
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Tuesday, March 13th, 2012
By Rod Burkett of BMA Management, Ltd.
Rick Banas of BMA and I joined with more than 100 members of the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) in Washington, D.C., last week to advocate for Assisted Living on Capitol Hill.
Also part of the Illinois delegation of AFLA that participated in the ALFA 2012 Advocacy Fly-In were Jerry Finis of Pathway Senior Living, Chris Laxton of Life Services Network of Illinois, Rodger Lederer of Willis global insurance, and Georjean Sweis of Addus HealthCare, Inc.
We were able to meet with Congressmen Peter Roskam and Joe Walsh and with legislative staff members serving in the offices of Congressmen Jerry Costello, Danny Davis, Timothy Johnson, Adam Kinzinger, John Shimkus, and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.
A Wonderful Alternative
 We talked about the differences between senior living and assisted living communities and nursing homes. As one legislative aide told us, they were all lumped together in his mind as institutional nursing home care until his grandmother moved into a senior living community. He was so pleasantly surprised to see the difference. Assisted living provides the opportunity for older adults to live in a residential environment and receive the personal assistance and support services they need to maintain their independence.
Choice, Independence & Dignity
We highlighted ALFA’s focus on promoting and protecting choice, independence, dignity, and the quality of life for older adults.
Oversight at the State Level
We discussed why the oversight of Assisted Living should remain at the state level. All 50 states now have regulations in place that govern the operation of Assisted Living communities. Adding federal regulations on top of the state regulations would only add to the cost of developing and operating Assisted Living communities, making Assisted Living more expensive.
The Most Cost-Effective Option
We pointed out that numerous studies are showing that living in an Assisted Living community is the most cost-effective option for those who need personal assistance and help with their medications to maintain their independence.
- The Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs published by the MetLife Mature Market Institute in October 2011 compares the cost of living in an Assisted Living community versus in a nursing home. Nationally the average annual cost for Assisted Living was $41,724 compared to $78,110 for living in a semi-private room in a nursing home. This represents a savings of more than 46%. Nationally, the cost of a private room in a nursing home was $87,235. In Illinois, the average cost for Assisted Living was $44,460 compared to $78,840 for living in a semi-private private room in a nursing home. This represents a savings of nearly 44%.
- A study published last year by the SCAN Foundation showed that Assisted Living saves Medicare millions of dollars. Over the course of one year, Medicare spent approximately $4,300 less on health care for a person who lived in Assisted Living or a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) than a person who required supportive services and was living in their own home or apartment. The figures reflect Medicare spending for inpatient hospital, outpatient hospital, physician, emergency department, skilled nursing, home health and hospice services. With more than 200,000 individuals living in Assisted Living or a CCRC, this represents a yearly savings to Medicare of $870 million dollars. The study also indicates that Medicare expenses for a person in a nursing home are almost $600 a year higher than for a person in Assisted Living or a CCRC.
- Here in Illinois a program called Supportive Living benefits the State and Federal Governments as well as older adults and their families. The cost for a person on Medicaid living in an affordable assisted living community that operates through the Supportive Living program is at least 40% less than if the person were living in a nursing home.
We stressed the importance of the Federal Government continuing to support Medicaid-waivers for programs such as the Illinois Supportive Living program and the importance of Assisted Living communities being considered a home and community-based service for purposes of Medicaid-waivers.
 A decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to adopt proposed rules that would reclassify virtually all Assisted Living communities as an institutional-setting or a decision by the federal government to do away with Medicaid-waivers for Assisted Living would have a significant negative impact on the 133 Supportive Living communities in operation in our State. Together, these communities serve on average 6,000 individuals on Medicaid.
Without Supportive Living, only two options would be available for these 6,000 individuals. They could move into a nursing home, which would cost Medicaid about $300,000 a day more. They could stay where they currently are living, which studies show would cost Medicare $25.8 million a year more.
To view other images taken by Keith W Wood at the ALFA 2012 Advocacy Fly-In at Washington, click here.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
Tags: ALFA, ALFA 2012 Advocacy Fly-In, Assisted Living Federation of America, assisted living in Illinois, Assisted Living on Capitol Hill, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congressman Adam Kinzinger, Congressman Danny Davis, Congressman Jerry Costello, Congressman Joe Walsh, Congressman John Shimkus, Congressman Peter Roskam, Congressman Timothy Johnson, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Continuing Care Retirement Community, Keith W Wood, Medicare, Rick Banas, Rod Burkett, senior living, State and Federal Governments, supportive living, The BMA Blog
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Thursday, February 9th, 2012
By Rod Burkett of senior living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
As President and CEO of the largest provider of assisted living in Illinois and Immediate Past President of the Affordable Assisted Living Coalition (AALC), I found some recent information about Medicare spending on older adults to be intriguing.
 The information was posted in a DataBrief on the SCAN Foundation website and reflects an analysis of Medicare Benefits prepared by Avalere Health, LLC. You can see the DataBrief at thescanfoundation.org
The SCAN Foundation is an independent not-for-profit organization that supports efforts to keep seniors self-sufficient at home and in the community.
 The analysis looked at how much Medicare spent on health care services for older adults who required supportive services to assist them with activities of daily living such as help with eating, bathing, dressing, toileting and transferring.
The analysis showed that over the course of one year Medicare spent approximately $4,300 less on health care for a person who lived in assisted living or a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) than a person who required supportive services and was living in their own home or apartment.
The figures shown in the analysis reflect Medicare spending for inpatient hospital, outpatient hospital, physician, emergency department, skilled nursing, home health and hospice services.
The analysis reflects spending data on nearly 2.2 million individuals on Medicare who required supportive services. Of those, nearly 1.2 million lived in their own home or apartment; more than 800,000 in a nursing home; and more than 200,000 in assisted living or a CCRC.
When you multiply an annual savings of more than $4,300 per person times the more than 200,000 that lived in assisted living or a CCRC that totals a savings of more than $870 million in Medicare spending in just one year.
The analysis also shows that the Medicare health care costs for individuals who need assistance and are living in assisted living or a CCRC is nearly $600 a year less than those living in a nursing home.
In light of the tremendous cost savings, how unfortunate it is that the Draft Framework for the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s that was recently released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS.org) virtually ignores assisted living.
In our assisted living communities, we have and do care for a significant number of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia. These are people who do not require the skilled nursing care services of a nursing home. These are people who may need help ordering their food and remembering what time of day it is and how to get to their apartment.
According to the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA.org), more than one-third of the residents currently living in assisted living communities nationwide have Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia.
 A growing number are living in specially designed Memory Care neighborhoods that offer special individualized and group programming. We are honored to have received approval from the State of Illinois to develop one of five pilot affordable assisted living Memory Care programs. The pilot projects will operate through the State’s Supportive Living program so they can serve those of all incomes, including individuals on Medicaid.
We will soon have under construction Memory Care apartments on the campus of our Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community in South Elgin, Illinois.
Unfortunately, the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s only mentions assisted living in one of its strategies and recommendations. Our company is providing feedback to the Department of Health and Human Services on why assisted living should play a much more prominent role in the National Plan.
We encourage you to join BMA in sharing your comments with the HHS. You can send an e-mail to NAPA@hhs.gov
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
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Tags: aalc, Affordable Assisted Living Coalition, Affordable Assisted Living Community, ALFA, assisted living, Assisted Living Federation of America, Continuing Care Retirement Community, DataBrief, Medicare, Medicare Benefits, Medicare Spending on Older Adults, Memory Care, Memory Care programs, National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s, Rod Burkett, senior living, Supportive Living Program, The SCAN Foundation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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