The resident of McHenry, Illinois was looking for information for her mother when she attended a caregiver’s conference with her sister earlier this year. She found that – and much more- when she discovered Deer Path of Huntley.
Deer Path is an affordable assisted living community for adults 22 to 64 years of age with physical disabilities that is under construction in Huntley, Illinois. The Village of Huntley is located in the northwest suburban area of metropolitan Chicago.
The community, which will be managed by BMA, is being developed and will operate through the Illinois Supportive Living program so it will be able to serve adults of all incomes, including those on Medicaid. It will combine residential apartment-home living with the availability of personal assistance, help with medications, and a variety of convenience and support services.
Marilyn had no idea what Supportive Living was until she spoke with Gail Williams, the Director of Marketing for Deer Path. Within minutes, she knew that Deer Path was the kind of place where her son, Jeffrey, could thrive.
Deer Path “was the answer to my prayers. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Tears actually started rolling down my checks,” Marilyn recalls.
“I went looking for support for my mom and discovered a treasure for my son,” she says.
Marilyn and Jeff (pictured left), who is 48, made an appointment to visit Deer Path a few weeks later. Jeff was impressed. He loved the place and felt that the community was being built “just for him.”
Jeff is planning to be one of the first residents to move into Deer Path when the community opens for occupancy later this summer. Jeff and his family are excited about the opportunities that await him when he arrives in Huntley.
“We are so looking forward to the move,” Marilyn says, and “feel a whole new world is opening up for him.”
Deer Path of Huntley is being developed on property on Regency Parkway, west of Rte. 47, in Huntley, Illinois. It will be the first affordable assisted living community for adults 22 to 64 with physical disabilities to be located in the northwest Chicago suburban area. For more information, call 847-515-1800 or online at www.deerpath-dslf.com
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“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.”
By Rod Burkett, President and CEO of BMA Management, Ltd.
When it comes to affordable assisted living, the State of Illinois continues to set the standard through its Supportive Living program.
I was reminded of this once again last week as I read a news story about the opening of an affordable assisted living community in Detroit. The affordable assisted living community is part of the first phase of a $40 million senior living development.
What really caught my attention was the indication that the newly opened community is one of only two designated affordable assisted living communities in the entire State of Michigan. The other is in Grand Rapids.
By comparison, Illinois, through its Supportive Living program, has nearly 140 affordable assisted living communities that are in operation. The communities are located in more than 70 Counties in northern, central and southern Illinois. Together, they house nearly 11,000 apartments.
We at BMA have been actively involved with the Supportive Living program since its inception. We opened our first affordable assisted living community 13 years ago, in May of 2000, in Flora, Illinois. Heritage Woods of Flora was the third affordable assisted living community in the state and the first to be housed in a newly constructed building.
Today, BMA operates nearly 25% of the affordable assisted living communities in Illinois.
From our experience, here are some of the reasons why the Illinois Supportive Living program has been so successful:
The program provides older adults and adults with physical disabilities with the opportunity to live in an environment that is much more appropriate for their needs. Rather they living in a nursing home or struggling alone at home, they are able to live in a residential environment and receive the personal assistance and help with medications they need to maintain their independence.
The emphasis of the program is on personal choice, dignity, privacy and individuality.
Supportive Living communities are able to serve residents of all financial means, including those on Medicaid.
The cost to the State of Illinois and its taxpayers for a person on Medicaid to live in a Supportive Living community is nearly half the cost of a nursing home. The savings can be used to support other programs and services.
More recently, the State approved the development of five Supportive Living Memory Care pilot projects to serve those with Alzheimer’s or related dementia. We were honored to receive approval to develop one of the five. We opened White Oaks at Heritage Woods of South Elgin this past fall; the 32 affordable memory care apartments were filled in three weeks.
In many areas, as many as two-thirds of the older adult population do not have the financial resources to afford traditional private pay assisted living, at least for any extended period of time.
Yet, while the need for affordable assisted living is tremendous, we have yet to find a state where we can duplicate what we have been able to do here in Illinois.
In the just published edition of Senior Living Executive, the magazine published by the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA), I challenged our industry to join with us in evaluating how to better care for all those who cannot afford traditional assisted living.
The Illinois Supportive Living program certainly can serve as a model.
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.”
By Rick Banas of senior living and assisted living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
The residents and staff of Heritage Woods of Sterling, a BMA affordable assisted living community, came together to create their own edition of the YouTube video dance craze that is, the Harlem Shake.
Located in City of Sterling in north central Illinois, Heritage Woods serves adults 65 and older of all incomes, including those on Medicaid, who need some help to maintain their independence.
The community recently was named one of the Top 20 assisted living communities in Illinois by Assisted Living Today.
Nearly 40 residents and staff members joined in making the video; we invite your to enjoy their version of the Harlem Shake:
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.”
Shortly after the ball dropped in Times Square to mark the start of 2013, the U.S. Senate passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) by an overwhelming 89 to 8 vote. The compromise legislation, which was adopted at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 1, was designed to avert the fiscal cliff.
ATRA is generally classified as tax legislation, but has built into it numerous provisions affecting public benefits, elder care, Elder Law and our seniors and boomers in general.
What does this mean for seniors and boomers? Consider the following:
1. Tax rate changes – The bill permanently extended current tax rates for individuals earning less than $400,000 and couples earning less than $450,000. Wealthy taxpayers (those making more than $400,000) will revert back to a 39.6% (up from 35%) tax rate. Taxpayers in this wealthy category will also see an increase in their capital gains tax rate and dividend tax rate from 15% to 20%. Also, married couples that earn more than $300,000 and individuals that earn more than $250,000 will face a phaseout of the personal tax exemption.
2. Estate Tax Changes – The estate tax is alive and well. The federal estate tax exemption for 2013 will be $5.25 million per person and be indexed for inflation in future years. Effective January 1, 2013, the top federal estate tax rate will increase from 35% to 40%. Portability of the unused exemption will remain in place for spouses. And the gift tax exemption will remain at $5 million. The Illinois estate tax exemption will increase to $4 million per person for 2013.
3. Payroll tax – Since 2011, the payroll tax rate, which funds Social Security, was kept at 4.2%. Starting January 1, 2013, the payroll tax rate will now revert back to 6.2% for those earning wages.
4. Good news for doctors (and all of us) – For another year, doctors will not suffer the previously scheduled 27% reimbursement cuts to Medicare patients’ fees.
5. Older Americans Act funding – There is additional increased funding for important aging programs. For fiscal year 2013, Area Agencies on Aging will receive an additional $7.5 million in additional funds. The Aging and Disability Resource Centers received an additional $5 million. The National Center for Benefits and Outreach Enrollment will also see an increase of $5 million in funding. Also, Medicare State Health Insurance Programs (SHIP) will receive an additional $7.5 million in additional funding for 2013.
6. Sequestration – The scheduled automatic spending cuts are delayed by a few months. Half of the cuts would come from defense spending and the other half would come from non-defense spending.
7. Class Act is repealed – This was to be an attempt at a national long-term care insurance program. It was scrapped in exchange for the establishment of the Commission on Long-Term Care.
8. Commission on Long-Term Care – This commission will develop a plan for the establishment, implementation and financing of a comprehensive system that ensures availability of long-term care services and support. The commission will look into the coordination of Medicare, Medicaid and private long-term care insurance. The commission will have 15 members, including the President. The various members will represent the interests of consumers, older adults, family caregivers, healthcare workers, private long-term care insurance, state insurance departments, and state Medicaid agencies.
Let’s hope they come up with an affordable long-term care model for our boomers and seniors. The (NAELA)Illinois Supportive Living program provides a wonderful example.
Remember, the most painful financial crisis affecting seniors and boomers today is the devastating cost of long-term care ($6,000 to $10,000 per month, per person in the Chicagoland area!).
9. Other items – The bill extended Medicare programs for older Americans including the payment for outpatient therapy services and specialized Medicare advantage plans for special needs individuals. The bill also extended the Qualifying Individual program (QI program).
10. Note – This is complicated stuff. But don’t let it stop you. Keep reading in the months ahead to understand more about the changes and how they might impact you. Also note that this bill still doesn’t solve the problems regarding sequester and the debt limit debate. That heavy lifting is still coming. Things will certainly heat up between now and May in trying to resolve those issues.
Takeaways – Stay tuned in. Start your “senior” estate planning now.
Anthony Ferraro is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Inc. (NAELA)
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.”
By Rick Banas of assisted living provider BMA Management, Ltd.
Perhaps you or a loved one can benefit from the information that Loretta Broomfield shared last week with residents of the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community that BMA manages in Benton, Illinois.
Loretta talked about a program that is available through the National Library Service that can help many seniors in Illinois and nationwide enjoy books and magazines.
One of the most important things I learned from Loretta is that the “Talking Books” program is not just for those who are blind or who have significant visual impairment.
If you are unable to read standard-size print or if you cannot comfortably hold a book or magazine, you most likely are eligible. The service also is available for those who may need it on a temporary basis for reasons such as cataract surgery or a broken hand, wrist or arm.
Residents of senior living and assisted living communities are eligible if they meet the criteria.
In addition, grandchildren and great grandchildren with conditions such as dyslexia can take advantage of the service.
The program is available at no cost to you so long as you use the mail-order service. The audio books and magazines are delivered to you through the mail at no-cost. The piece of equipment you need to listen to the audio materials is loaned to you at no cost. There is no charge for you to return the materials through the mail.
You can enjoy recorded versions of books found in most local libraries. You can choose from best sellers, fiction, non-fiction, classics, romance novels, poetry, biographies, mysteries and westerns.
The National Library Service produces about 50 new titles a week, Loretta said. Because of the amount of time needed to produce the talking books, you may find that the books on the best sellers lists may not be available to you as quickly through the Talking Books program as are the hard copies in your local library.
Also available through the Talking Books program are cook books; the Bible; a variety of magazines, including Newsweek, People, Consumer Reports and National Geographic; and hundreds of descriptive videos in which a narrator explains things such as facial expressions to someone who has difficulty seeing.
Materials obtained through the mail-order service are loaned to you for six weeks.
You can also select and download books on-line. The only cost is for the initial one-time purchase for the cable and blank cartridge that you will need to download the books. Loretta estimated that the cost for these items at about $15. There is no charge for downloading materials or for the piece of equipment needed to listen to the materials.
The equipment for playing talking materials is designed with large buttons to help make them easier to see and press. You can control the speed at which the materials are being read. A standard version is available for those who routinely read materials from beginning to end. An advanced version allows users to set bookmarks, which can be beneficial for those enjoying cook books or magazines.
The Talking Book program dates back to 1931.
Talking Book services are available through regional or sub-regional libraries.
For instance, the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center in East Peoria, Illinois, serves much of the state outside of the Chicago area. <link>
A Talking Book Center is available through the Chicago Public Library. <link>
The Voices of Vision Talking Book Center in Geneva, Illinois, serves Boone, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry and Will Counties and parts of Cook County, Illinois.<link>
For more information, visit any of the links above and the National Library Service website at www.loc.gov/nls or call 1-888-NLS-READ.
Heritage Woods of Benton is the only senior living community in Franklin County, Illinois certified to operate through the Illinois Supportive Living program. The affordable assisted living community serves older adults of all incomes, including those on Medicaid, who need some help to maintain their independence.
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.”
Guest Blog by 
1. Tax rate changes – The bill permanently extended current tax rates for individuals earning less than $400,000 and couples earning less than $450,000. Wealthy taxpayers (those making more than $400,000) will revert back to a 39.6% (up from 35%) tax rate. Taxpayers in this wealthy category will also see an increase in their capital gains tax rate and dividend tax rate from 15% to 20%. Also, married couples that earn more than $300,000 and individuals that earn more than $250,000 will face a phaseout of the personal tax exemption.
Perhaps you or a loved one can benefit from the information that Loretta Broomfield shared last week with residents of the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community that BMA manages in 
