BUYER BEWARE--TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OUR ELDERS FOR FINANCIAL GAIN GALORE!
I have been overseeing my elderly Aunt's assisted living care over the past few years at Aegis. Their exorbitant fees for both Assisted Living and Memory Care are appalling despite the otherwise nice staff. My disgust at the disgraceful financial exploitation and lack of oversight and controls over their fees has been eating away at me. Surely countless others are contending with the same concerns.
The Sentinel reported on the $80 million sale of Aegis last December 2018 to an institutional investor/private equity firm, Blue Moon Capital Partners--through a transaction involving three assisted living and memory care properties. I doubt anyone without first hand experience has any inkling what the facility's fee structure looks like or the impact of their profiteering.
For starters, clearly in order to obscure their fees, the facility charges by the day for both Room and Board, as well as for "extra" Care, despite billing monthly, and residents' long-term tenancy--ideally for the rest of their lives. Additional "Extra" Care fees (e.g., $2,482.00/yr. for handing residents their eyeglasses (!) and $3,723.00/yr. for handing residents their hearing aids (!) are insidiously charged using a daily point system for each allegedly required "service" to further obscure the actual enormity and shamelessness of their fees. Each point costs 68 cents--last year it was 64 cents but it goes up by 6%/yr. (e.g., Handing residents their eyeglasses each morning costs 10 points/day @ 68 cents each--$6.80/day--$204/mo.--$2,482/yr.!; handing residents their hearing aids each morning costs 15 points/day @ 68 cents each--$10.20/day--$306.00/mo.--$3,723.00/yr. and nearly double that to change the batteries weekly!). They charge my aunt $5,212.20/yr. to hand her a hairbrush and toothbrush with toothpaste each day!
Both room/board rates and extra "care" costs are routinely increased @ 6%/yr., without any typical justification against the Consumer Price Index, inflation rates, or cost of living. Prices are raised because they can, and nobody is effectively overseeing or containing them.
Until recently, my Aunt with dementia who is still able to participate in daily activities, and walks independently with a walker, was paying $222.00/DAY for room/board plus an additional $104.40/DAY for extra "care" allegedly warranted ($326.40/DAY!). So... Board & Room (approximately 12' X 14' private room plus bathroom) = $81,030.00/yr., and Care amounted to $38,106.00/yr., which all totaled, amounted to $119,136.00/year!
Two months ago, Aegis said she needed to move to their Memory Care unit but assured us if she moved to a Companion Suite (separate room with a shared bathroom), she could save money by paying $201.00/DAY for Room/Board ($73,365/yr.) and $87.72/DAY ($32,017.80/yr.) for extra care (because allegedly some of her former care costs would be automatically covered by the Memory Care program). So her total costs in Memory Care would be $105,382.80/yr. I have this representation in writing. Within six weeks of transitioning to Memory Care, they raised her care costs from 129 points/DAY (@ $.68 each) to 175 points (@ $.68 each--totaling $43,435/yr. + $73,365/yr RENT), and she cannot do anything about it. That's a $11,418.00/yr. increase, in two months...because they can. BAIT & SWITCH?
To illustrate the unconscionable charges the elderly incur there, this is what my Aunt's itemized, additional care fees look like (after I manually convert the point system into standard monthly and annual dollar amounts):
Points Cost/Day Cost/Month Cost/Year Task
Daily Preparation--i.e., dress, groom, and bedtime preparation:
21 $ 14.28 $ 428.40 $5,212.20 Hand resident tooth/hair brushes
15 $ 10.20 $ 306.00 $3,723.00 Velcro on/off left calf brace w/shoe
25 $ 17.00 $ 510.00 $6,205.00 Clothes selection and into hamper
10 $ 6.80 $ 204.00 $2,482.00 Put on glasses in am/off at bedtime
15 $ 10.20 $ 306.00 $3,723.00 Keep hearing aides p.m./am return
5 $ 3.40 $ 102.00 $1,241.00 Nighttime pull-up + am discard
[91 $ 61.88 $1,856.40 $22,586.20 Sub-Total to get ready in a.m./p.m.]
8 $ 5.44 $ 163.20 $1,985.60 Assist with two showers per week
15 $ 10.20 $ 306.00 $3,723.00 Allegedly monitor for falls
1 $ .68 $ 20.40 $ 248.20 Just because...for using a walker
10 $ 6.80 $ 204.00 $2,482.00 Regular activity reminders
(Note-this is a Memory Care unit)
Medication Fees:
20 $ 13.60 $ 408.00 $4,964.00 "Manage" 6 medications--what is this?
15 $ 10.20 $ 306.00 $3,723.00 Give meds up to 3X/day
15 $ 10.20 $ 306.00 $3,723.00 Eyedrops same time as above
50 $ 34.00 $1,020.00 $12,410.00 Sub-Total: Give 6 Daily meds+drops
175 $ 119.00 $3,570.00 $43,435.00 Grand Total Extra Care Charges
$43,435 "Care" + $73,365/yr Rent = $116,800/yr TOTAL
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