Moved into CCRC today

[lucky penny]

My best advice for anyone considering a CCRC is this --Don't wait too late! Get on the wait list sooner rather than later. To get in a nice Class A CCRC like mine you will have to meet health requirements and pass a cognitive test (our was suprisingly hard) at the time of admission. We know several people who were rejected to do health issues and some that could not pass the cognitive test. Rumor at our place is that about 30% of all applicants do not pass the cognitive test.

harllee, can you describe the cognitive test? A friend in her mid-80s who recently entered a CCRC in PA told me the test she had to take was very easy.

Asking for a friend...

 

[harllee]

harllee, can you describe the cognitive test? A friend in her mid-80s who recently entered a CCRC in PA told me the test she had to take was very easy.

Asking for a friend...

Hardest part to me was remembering 5 words for 20 minutes, counting back by 7 from 100 (husband had to count back by 6 from 90). There was a short story read to me and I had to answer a bunch of details from the story. The entire test was about 20 minutes and was harder than the test my doctor usually gives me. I understand our CCRC has the hardest test in our area.

 

[braumeister]

I understand our CCRC has the hardest test in our area.

Some of them also require an independent assessment from your doctor.

 

[harllee]

The reason the cognitive test at my CCRC is harder than most is that it is a Class A Life Plan CCRC. Plus they have such long waiting list they can afford to be very picky. They want to be sure that new residents can live independently for at least 5 years (of course some unexpected things happen sometimes like a stroke, etc that would prevent this). The main disqualifying condition is any sort of dementia. Parkinsons and MS can also disqualify. If you have had cancer they want to be sure from your doctor that you can leave independently for at least 5 years.

 

[RetiredHappy]

A curious question from an inquiring mind. If you are very wealthy, do you have to declare all your assets, or do you just declare a small portion of it, i.e a portion sufficient for the CCRC to accept you? Are those declared assets then "held" as collateral?

 

[braumeister]

A curious question from an inquiring mind. If you are very wealthy, do you have to declare all your assets, or do you just declare a small portion of it, i.e a portion sufficient for the CCRC to accept you? Are those declared assets then "held" as collateral?

I believe you just have to assure them that your financial status is sufficient to pay the bills for your expected lifetime. That usually involves providing copies of statements, etc., but what you offer is up to you. The CCRC board will make the determination of whether you qualify or not.

They have no control over your finances.

 

[harllee]

A curious question from an inquiring mind. If you are very wealthy, do you have to declare all your assets, or do you just declare a small portion of it, i.e a portion sufficient for the CCRC to accept you? Are those declared assets then "held" as collateral?

Since I am not "very" wealthy I had to declare all my assets in order to have enough to qualify. I bet if you have 10s of millions you would not have to declare everything, just a few million would do it. The assets are not held as collateral but if you ever run out of assets and ask for the Trust Fund to start paying your monthly fees they do look are your assets and make sure you have not given away a lot of assets to impoverish yourself.

 

[RetiredHappy]

@braumeister and @harllee, Thanks!

 

[ChrisC]

+1 Same model for our Type A CCRC-second person fee goes away when co resident passes.

I think I have a good idea to this question but I’ll ask anyway: Does the second person fee stay with the couple if one or both go into the assisted living or skilled nursing quarters of your CCRC? And if home care for assisted living in your unit for one person is provided by the CCRC, is that an additional charge. Just curious on how it works with the Type A contract model.

 

[Act2]

At my parents’ CCRC, if one person stayed in independent living but the other moved to assisted living, the second person charge on the independent living apartment went away, but now there was also a full charge for the person in Independent living, since they would be in different apartments. And any additional services in independent living like in-apartment personal care would be extra.

Add: they were in a Type A

 

[harllee]

I think I have a good idea to this question but I’ll ask anyway: Does the second person fee stay with the couple if one or both go into the assisted living or skilled nursing quarters of your CCRC? And if home care for assisted living in your unit for one person is provided by the CCRC, is that an additional charge. Just curious on how it works with the Type A contract model.

Where we are the person going into to assisted living, etc keeps the same fee they had in independent living. For example, say my husband is the primary resident and pays about $4000 per month and I am the second resident and pay about $1500 per month. If I go to skilled nursing my husband will continue to pay $4000 per month and I will pay $1500 per month (plus a little extra for meals and laundry).

 

[harllee]

At my parents’ CCRC, if one person stayed in independent living but the other moved to assisted living, the second person charge on the independent living apartment went away, but now there was also a full charge for the person in Independent living, since they would be in different apartments. And any additional services in independent living like in-apartment personal care would be extra.

Add: they were in a Type A

This is not the way it is in my Type A CCRC. When one person moves to the assisted living or skilled nursing that person continues to pay the same fee they were paying in independent living (plus a little extra for meals, laundry etc).

 

[Act2]

Harllee, that sounds like a good fee structure for the residents!

 

[ncbill]

Harllee, that sounds like a good fee structure for the residents!

Because it is a Class A CCRC.

Those often come with super high entry fees, e.g. $1+ million for a couple.

And even if the CCRC says it's refundable in practice all revenue gets dumped into a general fund, so any entry fee should really be considered a sunk cost.

 

[braumeister]

Because it is a Class A CCRC.

Those often come with super high entry fees, e.g. $1+ million for a couple.

Sometimes that's true, but I think it depends largely on its location and whether it's profit or nonprofit.

For example, I'm on the waiting list at an extremely well regarded Type A and the entrance fees range from roughly 300K to 750K, depending on the type and size of the home or apartment, with the second person adding just another 30K to 50K. So there is quite a range.

Another interesting factoid is that I've talked to a number of people who initially wanted one of the larger, more expensive places, but took a smaller apartment because they could get in sooner. When a larger place became available, they were offered first shot at it but declined because they found they liked the smaller place so much they wanted to stay. Part of that is because they had already become good friends with their neighbors.

 

[harllee]

Because it is a Class A CCRC.

Those often come with super high entry fees, e.g. $1+ million for a couple.

And even if the CCRC says it's refundable in practice all revenue gets dumped into a general fund, so any entry fee should really be considered a sunk cost.

My entrance fee was not any where near $1 million, in fact it was around $400,000. The entry fee was not refundable, most CCRCs in my area are going away from refundable fees.

 

[Koolau]

Hardest part to me was remembering 5 words for 20 minutes, counting back by 7 from 100 (husband had to count back by 6 from 90). There was a short story read to me and I had to answer a bunch of details from the story. The entire test was about 20 minutes and was harder than the test my doctor usually gives me. I understand our CCRC has the hardest test in our area.

Some of them also require an independent assessment from your doctor.

I had to pass a psych and cognitive test just to be covered by Medicare for an implantable TENS unit in my back. The tests were much easier than harlee describes (thank goodness!) The doctor said I passed and he would contact my back/pain doctor.

I recently had to do a cognitive test to get into a paid research protocol on falls vs hearing ability. That included the 5 words, counting backward, and other things. I wasn't even certain I passed! Of the 5 words, I needed a clue on 2 of them (like one word was "daisy" and the administrator gave the clue "flower.") With the 2 clues, I was 5 for 5. Strangely, over the past 20 years, I've been given 4 such tests for one reason or another. I STILL recall at least ONE word from each of those tests even though I struggled to remember them under the pressure of the test. What's up with that? (IIRC, each of the 4 tests included a color.)

 

[Rosie]

Thanks for the great info!

I've been following this very informative thread as well as the others here discussing CCRCs. Thanks to all who have contributed, especially you, harllee!

DH and I have no children and no relatives or close friends we could rely on. He's 72, I'm 64, and we're both in excellent health and live an active lifestyle. We're very comfortable financially. We don't have LTCI.

About a decade ago we went through the very stressful process of finding assisted living and then skilled nursing for DH's dad after his health went south, so we're somewhat familar with what we might encounter in the (hopefully distant) future.

Unlike the FIL, we have no one to rely on as we age. A Type-A/Lifecare (Lifeplan?) CCRC sounds ideal for us.

It's kind of hard to wrap our heads around what our perspectives will be, say, 6 or 8 years from now. At this point we're very happy with our current situation. I realize that the sooner we actually get the ball rolling, check out communities and get on waitlist(s), the better -- we don't want to be in a position where at some point in the future we wouldn't qualify for medical reasons. Where's that crystal ball when you need it?

My plan for 2024 will be to gather information so DH and I could do a bit of road tripping to check out communities. At this point we think we'd rather stay on the west coast, but, who knows?

(nwsteve, we'll probably visit your community this summer, I'll be in touch )

 

[braumeister]

I realize that the sooner we actually get the ball rolling, check out communities and get on waitlist(s), the better

Good thinking! Just one caveat.

Once you get up to the top of the wait list, some CCRCs only give you a few chances to turn down moving in right away when they have an opening. After whatever number that is, they bump you down to the bottom of the list again. Others let you stay there at the top of the list so you can keep getting offers as long as you like.

Which system is in use would be an important question to ask when you're interviewing prospective places.

 

[Rosie]

Good thinking! Just one caveat.

Once you get up to the top of the wait list, some CCRCs only give you a few chances to turn down moving in right away when they have an opening. After whatever number that is, they bump you down to the bottom of the list again. Others let you stay there at the top of the list so you can keep getting offers as long as you like.

Which system is in use would be an important question to ask when you're interviewing prospective places.

Good point! Thanks.

 

[Alex The Great]

My plan for 2024 will be to gather information so DH and I could do a bit of road tripping to check out communities. At this point we think we'd rather stay on the west coast, but, who knows?

After some initial research, I figured out the choice of descent CCRCs at west coast is very limited compared to east cost and obviously they tend to be much more expensive. I'd be happy to hear I'm wrong

 

[Rosie]

After some initial research, I figured out the choice of descent CCRCs at west coast is very limited compared to east cost and obviously they tend to be much more expensive. I'd be happy to hear I'm wrong

From what I've found so far, I'm inclined to agree with you. We may need to expand our horizons.

 

[harllee]

Remember there are many types of CCRC. The one I am in is the Class A/Lifecare, this type is more expensive on the front end but you get so much more included in your monthly fee. I would watch out for the "fee for services" type of CCRC (my mother is in a fee for services CCRC and it is about to nickel and dime us to death).

 

[Brat]

I've been following this very informative thread as well as the others here discussing CCRCs. Thanks to all who have contributed, especially you, harllee!

DH and I have no children and no relatives or close friends we could rely on. He's 72, I'm 64, and we're both in excellent health and live an active lifestyle. We're very comfortable financially. We don't have LTCI.

About a decade ago we went through the very stressful process of finding assisted living and then skilled nursing for DH's dad after his health went south, so we're somewhat familar with what we might encounter in the (hopefully distant) future.

Unlike the FIL, we have no one to rely on as we age. A Type-A/Lifecare CCRC sounds ideal for us.

It's kind of hard to wrap our heads around what our perspectives will be, say, 6 or 8 years from now. At this point we're very happy with our current situation. I realize that the sooner we actually get the ball rolling, check out communities and get on waitlist(s), the better -- we don't want to be in a position where at some point in the future we wouldn't qualify for medical reasons. Where's that crystal ball when you need it?

My plan for 2024 will be to gather information so DH and I could do a bit of road tripping to check out communities. At this point we think we'd rather stay on the west coast, but, who knows?

(nwsteve, we'll probably visit your community this summer, I'll be in touch )

I recommend you check out Holladay Park Plaza in Portland. It would have been on our short list but we have a paid up long term care policy so their program would have been redunant for us. Their skilled nursing unit is top rated by Medicare.

Portland is a reasonable drive to Sacramento and there is a light rail station in walking distance that takes you to PDX.

If memory serves there is an all-in (meaning all your assetts) senior facility in the Bay area.

 

[harllee]

OP here. Our first Christmas in our CCRC has been amazing. So many wonderful holiday things to do---parties, music, dancing, charitable giving, a bazaar for present shopping, Christmas movies in the cinema and a wonderful Christmas buffet today. We did not know much about Hanukkah so we attended several Hanukkah events and learned. We had company for the big Christmas buffet today (delicious). It was heart warming to see all the efforts made for residents who did not have family or friends to attend the Christmas buffet. Anyone who did wanted to be paired up with others could do so. There were several large tables for people who would otherwise be alone.

The staff made extra efforts to make sure that people in assisted living, memory care, etc could attend the events. We had a party with carol singing and Santa Clause and some of the memory care folks seemed had a ball--they were belting out the songs and sitting on Santa's Lap!

Coming up for New Years we have a Casino themed New Years party and a buffet with the traditional New Years fare--pork, black eyed peas, collards, etc.