By Jan Landon
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
Retirement planning is complicated, and seniors and their family members can become overloaded with misleading terminology.
“Life care” and “fee-for-service” and the contrasts between the two have proven concerning for many who are considering moving to a retirement community, says Retirement Counselor Jane McIntire.
Life care
Simply put, life care is an industry term for a payment structure in which residents pay inflated monthly rates covering extensive health care services they may or may not need in the future, McIntire says.
“Life care communities tend to be more expensive than other models,” says Christine Larsen in the New York Times’ June 2007 article, “As Continuing Care Grows, So Do the Payment Options.”
At life care communities, residents pay more because they are signing off on a lifetime contract.
Fee-for-service
Fee-for-service is entirely different. Under this plan, “Residents pay more when they need more care,” says Larsen.
“This unique payment model allows residents to keep their monthly costs low by paying only for the services they are using now,” explains McIntire, who works at Tallgrass Creek, a full-service retirement community in Overland Park.
Tallgrass Creek and other communities that employ the fee-for-service model are turning heads. Larsen sites report that, 47% of retirement communities have implemented the fee-for-service model, as opposed to 29% still using life care.
Pay for what you need
Tallgrass Creek has services available for the needs of individuals—not for sets of statistics.
“We are a full-service retirement community; however, you pay only for the things you use or need,” says McIntire. “Making residents pay for services they may never use goes against the philosophy of Tallgrass Creek and Erickson Retirement Communities.”