Looking for a buy-in elder care facility

[Anonymous]

My parents are at Kendall Collington near Bowie. Has its pros and cons, but overall they’ve been happy there. My aunt is going to look at Friends House near Olney - they are expanding.

[Anonymous]

OP, my dad is at Greenspring in Springfield, VA and it is a lovely place. He recently got pneumonia and is on the Greenspring campus at their short-term rehab (Gardenridge) until he is strong enough to go back to his independent living apartment. I have been really impressed by all of their services and the quality of the folks who work there.

Best of luck in your search!

[Anonymous]

This is OP again, I really appreciate the responses... for people who do have parents at a buy-in/continuing care facility, does the buy-in get spent down and/or does the monthly fee increase as the needs increase? So say my mom goes in independently, and in 5 years she needs some assistance with bathing, walking to meals, or taking medicine, does the monthly fee go up from $3,000 a month to $5,000 a month? Or will it increase to 7,000 a month if she ever needs to be moved to nursing care? Or do they deduct from the buy-in for the extra amounts and then seek more assets if the buy-in is depleted? I am just worried about escalating fees that she will not be able to afford and the websites don't have a lot of financial information. I know I need a day to start calling and investigating but any information now would be helpful as I start the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was she ever an officer in the armed forces? DId she ever work for the federal government and retire as a GS 14 or above?

Why, what will that offer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP again, I really appreciate the responses... for people who do have parents at a buy-in/continuing care facility, does the buy-in get spent down and/or does the monthly fee increase as the needs increase? So say my mom goes in independently, and in 5 years she needs some assistance with bathing, walking to meals, or taking medicine, does the monthly fee go up from $3,000 a month to $5,000 a month? Or will it increase to 7,000 a month if she ever needs to be moved to nursing care? Or do they deduct from the buy-in for the extra amounts and then seek more assets if the buy-in is depleted? I am just worried about escalating fees that she will not be able to afford and the websites don't have a lot of financial information. I know I need a day to start calling and investigating but any information now would be helpful as I start the process.

There are different types of Continuing Care communities based upon the contract/fee structure. Here's a link explaining them - https://www.mylifesite.net/resources/explanation-of-ccrc-contracts/ . I have a parent at Buckingham's Choice south of Frederick, MD. It was a Type C community but I have heard that they are now offering Type A contracts. Most continuing care communities have three levels of living - independent, assisted and nursing facility and your questions seem to pertain as to what happens as you move between them. My parent is in the independent living part and when we need extra services beyond what is provided in the monthly fee we pay extra for it. A fee schedule is provided each year and generally you pay by the hour. If the resident moves to assisted living there is a different fee structure and more services are included in the monthly fee. Each community we looked at seems to be slightly different and very few communities will put buy-in and fees on the web, so you need to call and ask them to send you information to get that. Also the contracts can vary depending upon how you handle the buy-in. In my parent's case, it is 100% refundable but there were other options of 90% refundable etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents are on the waitlist for GreenSpring in Va. It has a buy in, you get 90% back and for a single person it should be around $2000.

They are owned by Erikson Living. Here are the locations in Maryland.
https://www.ericksonliving.com/maryland-retirement-communities

Be careful or for profit eldercare companies.