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BMA Blog |
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Touching Lives · Providing Dignified Lifestyles
Posts Tagged ‘twitter.com/bmaman’
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing at BMA Management
Assisted Living Communities are designed to bridge the gap between living alone at home and living in a nursing home. Residents benefit from receiving the personal assistance and help with medications they need and from opportunities for socialization and companionship.
Costs can vary widely based on a number of factors.
Location
The MetLife Mature Market Institute notes that nationally in 2009 the average base monthly cost for a one-bedroom assisted living apartment was $3,031, or $36,372 a year. The average fee ranged from a low of $2.041 a month in North Dakota to a high of $5,219 in the Wilmington, Delaware area.
In Illinois, the average monthly fee ranged from $2,308 in Peoria to $2,802 in Chicago, $4,228 in the Highland Park area and $2,165 in the rest of the state.
Type & Size of Apartment
Private rooms, semi-private rooms and companion suites usually are less expensive than studio apartments. And studio apartments usually are more affordable than one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.
Inclusive, Levels of Care or Ala Carte
Probably what is most important when you are looking at the cost of assisted living is to be sure that you fully understand what is and is not included in the monthly fee.
Some communities charge an all inclusive or a virtually all inclusive monthly fee. No matter how much assistance is required, the amount a resident pays each month remains the same. For example, at all of the affordable assisted living communities that we manage in Illinois the monthly fee is based only on the size of the apartment and the number of occupants; the monthly fee does not increase just because a resident happens to need more assistance.
Some communities use an Ala Carte system. The lowest fee quoted on the price list only covers room, board and a base package of services such as housekeeping, having staff on-duty 24 hours a day, and the opportunity to participate in community activities. Each and every time staff provides help or assistance, an additional charge applies.
To help provide residents with more certainty about the amount it will cost each month, some assisted living communities use what is commonly referred to as Levels of Care. Residents are evaluated to determine the nature and frequency of services that will be required. The higher the level of service and the more often the service is provided, the higher the level of care. The higher the level of care the more expensive the monthly cost will be.
Both the Ala Carte and the Levels of Care systems can add hundreds and sometimes a couple of thousand dollars or more each month to the cost of care. So be sure that you have all the facts. If it is a community that charges on an ala carte basis, be sure to ask how the community verifies that the resident has received all of the services that will be on the bill. If the community uses Levels of Care, be sure you are comfortable with the community’s policies and procedures for changing a resident’s Level of Care.
Generally, the cost of assisted living compares quite favorably to the cost of nursing home care, which in 2009 averaged $72,270 a year ($6,022.50 a month) for a semi-private room and $79,935 a year ($6,661.25 a month) for a private room, according to the Met Life Institute study.
Also, keep in mind that most of the assisted living communities that are operated by BMA Management are affordable assisted living communities that serve older adults of all incomes. Our affordable assisted living communities in Illinois, for instance, operate under a special program called Supportive Living that is especially designed to benefit those who cannot afford private pay assisted living.
At our affordable assisted living communities, residents pay the monthly fee for as long as they have the financial resources to pay privately. For those who do not have the financial resources to afford the monthly fee, either at the time of move-in or at some later date, a financial assistance program is available.
To view the Met Life Institute’s 2009 Market Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Days Services & Home Care Costs, click the link http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/mmi-market-survey-nursing-home-assisted-living.pdf
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: Alternative to Nursing Home, assisted living, Assisted Living Communities, assisted living illinois, BMA Management, MetLife, MetLife Mature Market Institute, Rick Banas, supportive living, Supportive Living Program, The BMA Blog, twitter.com/bmaman, twitter.com/rickbanas
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Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing at BMA Management
Late last week, a woman in Florida was charged with attempting to run an unlicensed assisted living facility from her home.
Among the issues were care, cleanliness and food.
Residents were being inappropriately restrained.
A resident was found to have sustained bruises.
Insects were found crawling on countertops and in drawers in the kitchen.
Residents were being feed frozen dinners.
Hospice and physical therapy were not being allowed in to care for residents.
As the Florida Attorney General has noted about these types of situations, “our family members and loved ones deserve the best care available. Unlicensed facilities can pose a serious threat to the resident’s safety and well-being.”
If you are considering assisted living either for yourself or someone you know, I strongly encourage you to make sure that the assisted living community you are considering is appropriately licensed and/or certified.
Here in Illinois, you can check on assisted living communities through the Illinois Department of Public Health and on supportive living communities through the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. The distinction between assisted living and supportive living is that assisted living is designed for those who can pay privately and supportive living for those of all incomes, especially those who do not have the financial resources to afford private pay assisted living.
Through the licensure or certification process, representatives of these state agencies are checking to be certain that the communities are following state regulations, appropriately caring for residents, and are not providing more care then they are licensed to provide.
In the survey process for supportive living, for instance, representatives of Healthcare and Family Services visit the community to review all aspects of the operation. During the visit, they inspect the physical plant and conduct a review of nursing, ancillary services, maintenance and food service. They look at staffing ratios and the training and background of staff, interview residents and measure the community’s preparedness for a disaster.
When it comes to something as important as assisted living, don’t sacrifice safety and well-being by opting to live in a place that is not properly licensed or certified.
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: affordable assisted living, assisted living, Docs for Patient Care, Health Care, HFS, IDPH, Illinois Department of Healthcare & Family Services, Illinois Department of Public Health, Medicaid, nursing home, older adults, retirement communities, Rick Banas, Senior Living Community, Seniors, supportive living community, Supportive Living Facility, twitter.com/bmaman, twitter.com/rickbanas
Posted in BMA Management | 10 Comments »
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Blair Minton Founder of BMA Management, Ltd.
I had the privilege last week of serving as guest speaker for a meeting of the Advisory Council of a National Coalition dedicated to promoting quality and affordability in assisted living.
The meeting of the Advisory Council of the Center for Excellence in Assisted Living or CEAL was held at the headquarters of the
AARP in Washington, D.C.
Click here for a complete list and web links of the
CEAL Advisory Council.
We talked about the tsunami of older adults that will be hitting the United States in the coming years and about the Supportive Living program that we have here in Illinois as a model for affordable assisted living throughout the United States.
The Silver Tsunami
 Today, there are 2.5 million individuals in the U.S. who are 85 years of age and older. In 2030 the number is projected to triple to more than 8 million. In 2050, the number is projected to swell to 21 million.
In 2009, 16% of all men and 21% of all women over the age of 65 who lived alone had incomes that fell below the federal poverty level.
Nearly 45% of our 75+ population living at home have annual household incomes of less than $25,000 and 60% have less than $35,000. The average cost for assisted living tops $3,000 a month and $36,000 a year.
The Supportive Living Program
The Supportive Living Program that we have in Illinois serves as a prime example of how we can meet the needs of older adults, while improving the quality living in a more cost friendly manner
Before the Supportive Living Program, the only options available for older adults who needed assistance and couldn’t afford assisted living was to move into a nursing home (which was much more costly to the state) or struggle alone at home.
The program benefits the state. In the 2009 fiscal year, estimates show that the Supportive Living program saved the State of Illinois $90 million.
The first Supportive Living community opened for occupancy a little over 10 years ago. Serving as an economic stimulus, the program has generated $750 million in new construction and renovation projects. Creating more than 4,321 new jobs.
Best of all, the program provides older adults with a much more dignified. They can enjoy a residential environment designed to provide safety, security, love, compassion and independence.
Unlike assisted living communities that tend to be located in areas of higher incomes and higher housing values, Supportive Living communities are located throughout Illinois – in urban, suburban and rural areas. Together, the nearly 120 Supportive Living communities currently in operation house nearly 9,400 apartments.
On average, more than 60% of the residents at the 30 affordable assisted living communities that we operate receive financial assistance from Medicaid.
I invite you to visit our website at www.bma-mgmt.com for more information about Supportive Living, the affordable assisted living communities that we operate through the program, and how we are touching the lives of older adults and their families.
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: AARP, affordable assisted living, assisted living illinois, Blair Minton, BMA Management, CEAL, Silver Tsunami, Supportive Living Facility, Supportive Living Program, supportive living program in illinois, twitter.com/bmaman
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Thursday, March 4th, 2010
By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing at BMA Management
As Bill Rodgers RN talked, a common thread become apparent.
Being physically active, eating properly and losing weight are three great ways to reduce your risk of diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, stroke and other health problems.
Bill is a Cardiovascular Clinician at Anderson Hospital in Maryville, Illinois. He was doing a presentation at the Cambridge House of Maryville affordable assisted living community on, “Knowing Your Numbers for Healthy Living.”
He talked about cholesterol. Your HDL is your ‘good’ or your ‘Happy Cholesterol.’ Men should have an HDL level of at least 40 and women should have an HDL level of at least 50. Levels above 60 are best.
Your LDL is your ‘bad’ or your ‘Lousy Cholesterol.’ LDL levels below 100 are optimal. Levels between 130 and 159 are considered borderline high, between 160 and 189 are considered high, and 190 and above are very high.
Bill recommended five things you can do to improve your cholesterol as well as your triglyceride numbers:
- Lose Weight
- Be Physically Active
- Decrease Your Intake of Fat
- Decrease Your Intake of Cholesterol
- Increase Your Intake of Fiber
He pointed out that your waist size might predict your risk for developing heart disease and diabetes. Men with a waist size above 40 inches and women above 35 inches have an increased risk.
High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) nicknamed ‘The Silent Killer,’ can increase your risk for disease of the arteries, heart, brain, kidneys and eyes.
According to Bill:
- Blood pressure of 120 over 80 is considered Normal
- 120 to 139 over 80 to 89 is considered Pre-Hypertension
- 140 to 159 over 90 to 99 is Stage One: Hypertension
- 160+ over 100+ is Stage Two: Hypertension
To reduce your blood pressure numbers, you can…
- Lose Weight
- Be Physically Active
- Reduce Your Intake of Sodium
Another thing you can do is to increase your intake of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Flax seed oil and cold water fish are two good sources.
By quitting smoking and reducing your intake of alcohol and caffeine can help you keep your blood pressure down and health up.
Bill stressed the importance of routine check-ups and follow-up visits with your physicians. If medications are prescribed, take them as recommended and do not stop unless your doctor tells you to do so.
You might also want to visit the American College of Cardiology’s CardioSmart website at www.cardiosmart.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.”
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Tags: affordable assisted living, American College of Cardiology, Anderson Hospital Maryville Illinois, assisted living illinois, Bill Rodgers RN, Blair Minton, BMA Management, CardioSmart, Cholesterol, HDL, High Blood Pressure, LDL, Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Rick Banas, Triglyceride, twitter.com/bmaman, twitter.com/rickbanas
Posted in BMA Management | 11 Comments »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing at BMA Management
Let’s tip our hats to Dixielee and Ray Ross, residents of the Cambridge House affordable assisted living community in O’Fallon, Illinois.
When Dixielee welcomed me into her apartment so we could chat, she had a stack of the latest edition of the O’Fallon Progress newspaper sitting on her lap. She had been crocheting an Afghan as she waited for Ray, her husband and high school sweetheart, to return from getting his hair cut in the community’s Barber Shop. She pointed out the photos of their engagement, wedding, five sons and seven grandchildren that she had on display in their apartment.
She had every right to brag. Dixielee and Ray were celebrating their 54th Wedding Anniversary.
The reason that she had so many copies of the O’Fallon Progress was that the newspaper featured a picture and story about the new Red Hat group that Dixielee had organized. As Queen Mother of the “Wrinkles in Time” group, Dixielee wanted to be sure that copies of the paper would be available for all those who had attended the first get together that was held in February in the private dining room at Cambridge House. Click here to read the article.
“We don’t have meetings.” Dixielee explained. “We are a bunch of little girls playing dress up. All we have to do is eat, drink and be merry.”
Dressing up in their Red Hats for the first time, members with names such as Charming Charlotte, Exquisite Eleanor and Ravishing Rita told stories about their hats, tea cups and saucers. Cream puffs, éclairs and three varieties of tea were served.
“We’ll be meeting every other month at Cambridge House,” says Dixielee. “The other months, we’ll go out.”
Fond memories of having been a member of a Red Hat Society in Alabama for about nine years is what prompted Dixielee to start the Wrinkles in Time group.
Dixielee and Ray moved back to the St. Louis Metro East area to be closer to family. They made the move to Cambridge House of O’Fallon on September 1, 2009.
Dixielee, who has been involved in sales all her life, says she fell in love with Cambridge House as soon as she came in the door.
“In eleven days, we went from nine rooms to two rooms,” says Dixielee. “It is the best thing we ever did. The staff is so helpful and so eager to please.”
Also for Dixielee, the location is great as her sister, Sandra, lives only two blocks away.
Buying into the idea of moving to assisted living was much more difficult for Ray to accept. He had worked as a Production Control Supervisor for MacDonald Douglas before retiring in 1992. As the man of the house, he saw providing for the needs of the family as his responsibility. As much as he appreciates the attention he receives at Cambridge House, he never envisioned this role reversal.
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.”
Follow on Twitter Facebook YouTube Google+
Tags: affordable assisted living, assisted living illinois, Blair Minton, BMA Management, Cambridge House of O'Fallon, Dixielee and Ray Ross, O'Fallon Progress, Red Hat Society, Rick Banas, senior living, twitter.com/bmaman, twitter.com/rickbanas, Wedding Anniversary, Wrinkles in Time
Posted in BMA Management | 4 Comments »
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