Estate Planning | Making a Difference One Family at a Time

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Selecting a long term care facility can be an arduous task. We all want the best for our loved ones, and finding the nursing home or assisted living facility that meets your family’s needs is paramount. Fortunately there are resources out there that make this process much easier.

For instance Medicare.gov offers state by state information on long term care facilities. You can enter the state of Connecticut and you will find many facilities listed. You will also find that each facility is measured under a star rating system. The parameters include Overall Rating; Health Inspections; Nursing Home Staffing; Quality Measures; Program Participation (i.e., Medicare, Medicaid); Number of Certified Beds; and Type of Ownership (i.e., non-profit, for profit, church related). The rating system ranges from “Much Above Average” to “Much Below Average”.

Another resource is ucomaparehealthcare.com. This site allows the user to enter the desired state and select from multiple cities. Some of the criteria listed about each facility are how many residents live in the nursing home; how many beds exist in the facility; and the percent occupancy rate in the nursing home.

Although many resources are available for each state, you will still need to do your own research into the facility. When you are ready to start the process of choosing the facility that best suits your needs, you can use the Internet and websites such as the ones listed above to compile a list of options. Next you will want to call the facilities and ask questions. Having a list of questions ready when you make the calls will help you to stay on track.

Next, arrange a visit to the facilities that you are interested in. Meet the staff and observe the residents. Do they seem happy and content?

If you do your the research, engage in some legwork and employ a bit of patience you should be able to ascertain which of the many choices is best for your family.

Barry D. Horowitz, Estate Planning Attorney
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