welcome to chamber focus this program is produced by the peters township chamber of commerce we are here to inform and educate the residents of peter's township about businesses and services available to them right here in our own community i'm your host linda vera today we're going to be discussing long term care options the information that will be offered will be very important to you and your family so we hope you stay tuned because it's going to be a good education for all of us aron tracy is the director of admissions to four country meadows nursing center located in bridgeville and to her left is lucy seeger and lucy is c e o and franchise owner of home instead senior care and i'm going to introduce myself again because today i'm actually a guest is in addition to the host i'm linda vera and my business is linda vera and associates and we specialize in long term care insurance so today what we're going to talk about the three of us is option surrounding long term care so many people are dealing with it now our parents are living longer and the baby boomers are starting to understand the issues surrounding it but people are still shocked when they realize medicare doesn't pay for they say people are shocked when they are mom or dad needs care and it all starts to become a lesson to them so hopefully this will help people understand ahead of time so that they can prepare for that those needs i'm going to start with you tracy can you tell us a little bit about country meadows about you know facility care in general shorter country meadows is located in bridgeville pennsylvania in the south wales and we've been there for over twenty five years country meadows offers many many different types of care and i'm going to interrupt you there because i don't know if people understand how important that is that continuum a continuum of care and what we mean when we talk about continuum of care is that we offer every level of care that you could possibly need in one setting so for instance we offer everything from independent living we have three levels of assisted living and i'd like to talk a little bit about that and then we have the rehabilitation a long term care center so it's on a twenty five acre campus and what's very interesting and most special about our community is that we're not a buy in and when we talk about buy ins we talk about you pay a large sum of money upfront and then you have a life care contract what we do a country meadows is that you pay month to month for the care that you need so you just pay monthly it's on a monthly and you're not locked into anything if you choose not to do that and that's a whole different issue than the life yes continuum of care and the life care that's another show for another   levon years and what we do is we provide services in the home for older adults to help them to stay in their homes for as long as possible to be independent and safe variety of services that we offer or anything from doing personal care to housework or laundry shopping taking people to doctor's appointments managing medications all those sorts of things that help to support somebody to be independent so you don't have you know i know this is a fact when i do public speaking  when you ask a group what is their first thought when you hear the word long term care and it's always nursing and yet that's probably one of the least worries people have to face because it's that assisted care whether they choose to be in an assisted care facility or remain in their home to receive those services so i'm asking again it doesn't have to be about nurses in your home or no not really in there and really you know there are license professionals certainly aren't as such that can assist people with more medical their medical needs and conditions but on a day to day basis a professional caregiver can assist an older adult with a lot of things that day to day activities are activities of daily living like you know that are dressing and eating and bathing and being in continence care and transferring and toileting and then direct instrumental activities of daily living things like driving a car and being able to shop and managing medications and preparing a mail all those sorts of things can be done by with a professional caregiver that's been trained and able to assist somebody in their home i want to talk to both of you about that too about what sets you apart to me it's about the training and what kind of training and i think also you didn't mention you do have an all time or unit to also armored units so if you use a continuum of care you're talking no matter what you need country medicine provided to you are at the same campus so nobody has to move correct this and i hope people understand how important that really really is when they're out looking for a placement for a loved one correct training can you tell me about how you know what makes you stand out and both of you do stand up by the way home instead has a fabulous reputation in this area under your guidance for sure and so does country meadows you're both excellent excellent community service people but tell me why it sets you apart well i think for a country mad as one of the things that we're most proud about is that we are privately owned by a family and the family of the former governor george later and his family so we are have this and it's not going to be a very good i'll hold it out but it's not any good they just release their original award winners for nursing centers and they take each business and then they award gold silver and bronze and country medals nursing and rehab center receive the gold award campus we also have longevity and i know that's important to a lot of people outside in the community when you're looking for a facility so we've had coworkers who have been here as long as we've been opening and that's twenty five years in all departments nurses certified nursing  assistants and that's important because your loved one will have the same face caring for them every day and not only is that important in that sense but it's also important to know that people are happy working there and that's why they continue to work there because they're they're treated well yeah to me happy employee means your loved one is going to get better care exact had that continuity and tell me a little bit and i know that through my my association with the also members association in pittsburgh that your people are so well trained well and i think lend it goes back to selecting the right person first and i think in our past conversations we talked about how you know it's really important to select somebody who is compassionate and kind and patient that's first i can i can teach i can teach somebody the rest of the things the skills that need to be done in order to take care of somebody's home but i can't teach them compassion we really need an individual who's dependable and caring and so we do find those folks and then we do have a training program is very thorough we train everything from personal aid to hospice and of life training all sorts of things to to be able to ongoing training to teach somebody to be able to care for somebody in their home so i think that that's really the focus and i think the thing is to is to look at whether an agency is state licensed also is that something that's something new yeah that's just where i'm going into play now that we have licensure in the state of pennsylvania which ensures consumer protection and was a wonderful thing for our industry to be across the board when you do hire somebody you're feel more certain about that i think the other thing is looking at dependability we have a system called the left so when you arrive at the client's home the caregiver clocks in by using the client telephone and they clock out so we know when they're there if they're and they're late if they are happy that perhaps there's been a you know they've been trouble getting there i would know about that and then the type of activities that they perform while they're there so that all ensures somebody peace of mind i mean it's really difficult to have somebody come into your home and we were allies that and we take a lot of measures to make sure that the person is introduced to the client and ensure all those things that they've been trained and they are supervised and that there are some quality assurance here that we are delivering the services that you pay them for a big difference between and i'm sure many of our viewers will know this about a home health care and agency and what we call a registry and i don't know that there are really too many registries well i don't  organization are my employees so i'm responsible for payroll taxes workers compensation insurance liability insurance bond insurance their train their supervise their criminal check this is all so really something that is indicative of our business model we take on all the risk we do the hiring and firing performance issues anything that would come up with you on hire somebody from a registry you're hiring an independent contractor so the older adult becomes the employer the consumer becomes the employer  they assume all the risk that's involved with that in there is not workers compensation compensation is coverage if the person gets injured in their home then that can the older adult would be responsible at our or any liability or any any employee dishonesty contractor model and what you're assuming as the as a consumer good information how about independent caregivers how i should now that wasn't one of our plan questions but there are people out there who go into people's homes they don't work for themselves or their ass and that's the same thing as as working with a registry that these are people that aren't necessarily covered by insurance is and aren't necessarily i've been trained have not necessarily and you get you become the employer and you direct the care you have to do all those sorts of things that an agency would handle assisted living but what's unique about us is that we actually keep residents in the level of care that they need all together so we actually have a building just independent we have a building of your basic assisted living and these are the type of residents that choir meals some type of assistance with their activities of daily living and we have a building that's also dedicated to people who are more physical health care and they're all together and then we have assisted living dementia care and they're all together that's group and i'm just you know and i don't want to discuss standalone assisted care facilities but so many of those are being built now people to understand though when you put a loved one into an assisted care facility that has no other levels of care as their parent needs change they're either going to try to keep them there beyond there may be ability to provide that care to them because they want that beds and they need that income right or you're going to take your loved one know and and i  physically move them to another community where i am the problem is if they've already spent a lot of their money it's hard for them to find a community that will actually take them so you know of anybody walks away with anything about the show today it's about that continu of care everything is there so you always know the care is provided and lucy as far as you know you being the employer and being responsible for the employees you send in to your clients homes very important information very we're getting a little farms up here we're ready to take a break we've already very great ok let's take a commercial break and we'll be right back to finish our conversation about long term care option something's happening to the polar bear polar bears are losing their homes their hunting grounds their lives two thirds of the world's polar bears will be gone by twenty fifty and the entire species could be extinct by the end of the century go to save the polar bear dot org today as a parent i know one of the most important times to be with your children is when they are that's when the love and comfort of the family is essential to a child's well being for many families is a place they can go to find the support they need ronald mcdonald house charities programs provide supportive environment so families can be together while their children are dealing with this is undergoing treatment it's a home away from home for families in need giving them more time for hugs kisses point moments together you can volunteer time at a local ronald mcdonald house and have a family you need a good meal or hosting movie you can also drop us a change in our communities and nursing center and lucy sacre who is c e o and franchise owner of home instead senior care to two locations here in the pittsburgh area and we're talking about long term care we're talking about all kind of things that go a you should be looking out for as a consumer when you're looking at for yourself or for a loved one what you should be you know what the information you need to make the right decisions with what mr we were talking a lot about home care and what not and this is you know we need to get to the point where we have to say how much is this cost this is fresh talking part this is what i hear from baby boomers my mother needs home care i can't believe how much it costs i was shocked my mother needs to go into an assisted care facility or nursing home oh my gosh she's spending down all of her money so could you tell us a little bit about the costs associated with home care sure the glad to come care is really when you when you ask people we've done a study through homestead senior care  nationally when you ask people about what they think long term care options cost they usually over estimate the the more affordable options which is home care and and underestimate what it costs to be skilled nursing so people do have a some confusion about what things really cost at home care you'll see and our local area here well usually run between ninety to maybe twenty three twenty four dollars an hour and the lower end will be for companionship type services where there is no hands on personal care ok usually their hands on personal care will be over twenty dollars an hour up towards twenty two twenty three dollars so depending on the on the agency and i asked you how much how m staff anywhere from anywhere from two to three hours up to twenty four hours a day seven days a week or so you will do to get two to three hours that's yet to see because a lot of agencies are four hours you are half or so and some people just need a couple hours in the morning and the three hours just to get  up get ready for the day and bathed and have breakfast get their medications and then maybe at night they need a few hours in the evening for a meal and to make sure that they're ready for bed and to make sure that things are secure for the night some people need us flexible and the older adult tells us what they the services they need family tells us and when they need us we adapt to what they what their needs are i think the costs are how they're paid for is another question everybody does think that medic medicare pays for services like this medicare does not pay for long term care options there are some people who pay out of pocket private believe pay there are people who have long term care insurance which i think we need to talk about as well you do have a question about that you can call american legion downtown and they can i answered that question best place for people to go and write one directly to the v a go to the american legion because they will really streamline the process for our veterans right there are some rules and regulations to that as well people i know about it and they and the final one is medicaid waiver if there are people who don't have money there are programs under medicaid that pell pay for these services for the most needy of our oldest  r elderly and our communities so we are a medicaid waiver provider and when you were talking earlier about the activities of daily living that's really what triggers a long term care insurance when someone when one of my clients calls me and says gee i need help because i can't bend over to put my shoes and socks on or i'm having difficulty stepping in and out of the bath tub or i can't button the buttons on my shirt due to arthritis those are the types of things that will trigger a claim for long term care insurance so the long term care insurance policy actually pay you for their care and people buy long term care insurance really my clients or people are trying to protect their assets and that's really where i recommend people buying long term care insurance my clients have are people who have money they've accumulated it and they know if they ever need care in the future they have a chance they're going to spend down all of the money they've ever saved to pay for these long term care services which are not inexpensive and so you know if people out there who are listening if you have assets that you have accumulated and again long term care insurance is not for everyone first of all you need to be in good health because long term care insurance companies are not offering this insurance to people who are already needing care so important to get that long term care insurance earlier rather than later it's about planned i had people ask me well when is the best time to buy long term care insurance and i tell people if you have money to protect and you can afford the premiums and you  in good health then maybe it's time to start looking at it you may not decide to do it but it's a good education to learn about long term care insurance and linda there's always been this misconception that i've heard from older adults in their families that long term care insurance only pays for facility care community care it does pay for home care does it not long term care insurance will pay for these the competition is a good thing because it drives quality and so with home care being so popular now and it is i have i have to tell you i have multiple people on claim right now because i've been in this business for sixteen years and have a lot of claim experience that all of my clients are at home receiving care that's where they are to receive their care no offense to you but that is their choice they want to stay home and receive care long term care insurance will pay for care in your home they'll pay for hospice care they'll pay for adult daycare assisted living care nursing care also alzheimer's care so the policies now are very very comprehensive but again is it the right thing for you it's it's confusing to people when you buy long term care insurance really what you're buying is a pot of my you know he might say well i want three thousand dollars a month benefit and i want a benefit that's going to last for five years what you're doing is multiplying that out then months times the benefit and that's really what you're buying you're buying a pool of money so what you're trying to do is say ok i have a half a million dollars here or two hundred thousand dollars here if i buy two hundred thousand dollars worth of insurance i'm protecting my dollar for dollar value and that's something new in pennsylvania which is called a partnership plan and i don't want to spend too much time on that program or on a dime but you know the government is sending messages to people you better take responsibility for this because we're not paying for your long term care and now we're talking about the cost of care tracy do you tell us a little bit i know it's confusing because you have so many levels of assisted care and who are seeing care can you give us a ballpark i mean what is a month the cost of a care for a month in your nursing center and the nursing center are starts at about sixty eight hundred a month and it would go up from there and what we do a country matters is we don't charge you for the type of care that you need which is really also something that sets us apart we just divide rates by the type of when you choose whether you choose a private room which is on the higher end of the cost range and we actually do have some triples available as well and where most are probably about eighty five percent some are private room which is two in a row and that is the rate for that so my private  sixty eight hundred sixty eight hundred ok now if someone has a checkbook out there and wants to open their checkbook and see what it feels like to write a check every month for seven thousand dollars seven thousand dollars seven thousand dollars maybe for several years ye s it's that money goes fast goes quickly it goes quickly and how about your sister care this is a living where you just because we have those different types of care available and many different types of apartments available in all of our levels of care i would say probably of this a little bit of that but it was never designed long term care insurance benefit i call medicare let's get you better so we can get you out of here insurance and that's a very good way of putting it linda because medicare and i think this is one of the biggest misconceptions people have for instance if you decide to get a joint replacement and elective surgery or if you become ill and need physical therapy you know that is something that medicare will pay for on a short term basis so the consumers out there need to be educated about number one what it what is it going to cover how long is it going to cover and do they have co insurance co payments with either a medicare with a co insurance or an h m o plan because they couldn't have come insurance payments and i encourage everyone to go ahead and call their carriers and be educated before they need it exactly i wanted to ask to do your do you see more and more long term care insurance coming in i don't know at this point because i know my clients when i started in the long term care insurance business sixteen years ago my average client was sixty eight years old when they were purchasing my clients today are in their forty's and fifty's and early sixty's this is when they're moving ahead again again they're experiencing with their parents so the education is there th it's cheaper at that time and you know they're just moving ahead with it the cost of long term care people want to know how much is long term care insurance cost and that's you know that's people call me sometimes that's what they want to know how much is this going to cost and if anybody can quote you like that over the phone i would probably be very cautious long term care insurance is not inexpensive it's a high risk so the insurance is not it's sort of cheap insurance but the cost of insurance is going to be based on your age your health and the amount of insurance you put in that pot that's what the insurance is going to based on so it's not one size fits all people need to sit down with someone who is an expert in the field and really design that plan based on what their needs are not what everybody says they should buy but you know based on a nursing home a sixty eight hundred dollars a month some of my clients have enough well that they think i can pay for half of that out of my pocket so i'm going to just buy half as much long term care insurance and keep my premiums down so people need to adjust that when they're looking at long term care insurance we're running out of time here i would like to offer this i know your graphics up this is a shopper's gu long term care insurance if anybody is interested in receiving one of these long term care insurance guys you're welcome to call me or e mail me and i will mail one of these to you and all the graphics have been up about country meadows and about home and said you