senior living applications & financial disclosure

[Anonymous]

My 80-year-old dad has agreed it’s time to move to a senior living community where he can get basic nonmedical assistance now and transition to assisted living if needed.

Then he saw the financial disclosure forms that are part of the applications. I agree that they’re weirdly intrusive.

Why do they need to know a senior’s cash assets, stocks, pension, life insurance, etc.?

These are monthly payment situations, so is there a reason they need every detail? It’s raising red flags for me, and he wants nothing to do with it.

(This is in Wisconsin. Not sure if laws vary by state.)

[Anonymous]

Just to give us more context Op, is it a Continuing Care Community (CCR)?

[Anonymous]

This is typical. They want ti make sure that he can afford to stay there. No one wants to evict a senior citizen.

[Anonymous]

Laws vary a great deal by state. You need a financial advisor in your state who's experienced with seniors and Medicaid.

The point of this is, from their perspective, to figure out how long he can pay his bill for, and how much Social Security and Medicare and maybe Medicaid he'll have when he runs out of his own money. Ideally he doesn't run out, but some people do.

[Anonymous]

Because they are going to drain his accounts. That is what these places do.
They drain you to get you on medicaid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because they are going to drain his accounts. That is what these places do.
They drain you to get you on medicaid.

No they don’t. Care is expensive and they don’t want you to run out of money before you die because they don’t want to have to kick you out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to give us more context Op, is it a Continuing Care Community (CCR)?

The places we’ve talked to offer senior living and assisted living, so different levels, starting with some meals, housecleaning and transportation but offering medical care and other services as needed. I don’t know if that’s a CCR.

Right now, he’s living independently and doesn’t need assisted care. We’re more concerned about housekeeping and getting him to stop driving.

[Anonymous]

Many places want to see assets that indicate they can pay for five years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many places want to see assets that indicate they can pay for five years.

You can ask if he can just show that and not all of it.

[Anonymous]

Op, could he request a letter be sent from his brokerage account saying he has assets worth greater than 1 million and leave it at that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Laws vary a great deal by state. You need a financial advisor in your state who's experienced with seniors and Medicaid.

The point of this is, from their perspective, to figure out how long he can pay his bill for, and how much Social Security and Medicare and maybe Medicaid he'll have when he runs out of his own money. Ideally he doesn't run out, but some people do.

His pension and SSI will cover the monthly payments for senior living. They’re reasonable in his area, around $2,500/month.

That’s why it seemed intrusive to ask for his life insurance, stocks, total assets.

[Anonymous]

It's just a standardized form that they give to everyone most likely.

If it's a private sector pension there's some risk of failure. But yes, ask if a brokerage letter or disclosure up to a certain amount will suffice.

[Anonymous]

I was looking into CCRCs for my parents, and they had applications like this because there is a safety net for those who outlive their savings so that they aren't kicked out. But they want that to be in 15 years, not in 3 years.

[Anonymous]

I figured this is just standard operating procedure. My Mom is 87 and transitioning to her 3rd facility in the past 15 years. We pretty much go through the total financial paperwork annually. It used to be that they wanted to make sure she had enough money because they didn't want to admit someone who they would have to kick out (although, they DO kick out people who run out of money).

Her new place is run by the county, so they want to make sure she is basically broke and hasn't given away a bunch of money in the past five years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Laws vary a great deal by state. You need a financial advisor in your state who's experienced with seniors and Medicaid.

The point of this is, from their perspective, to figure out how long he can pay his bill for, and how much Social Security and Medicare and maybe Medicaid he'll have when he runs out of his own money. Ideally he doesn't run out, but some people do.

His pension and SSI will cover the monthly payments for senior living. They’re reasonable in his area, around $2,500/month.

That’s why it seemed intrusive to ask for his life insurance, stocks, total assets.

And that’s all I would tell them.