Assisted living combines a home-like setting with personal support services to provide more intensive care than is available through home care services. Assisted living facilities provide older adults with an option to nursing facility care that is both less expensive and less restrictive.
Assisted living residences vary considerably, but most provide meals, housekeeping, laundry, transportation, and social activities. They also offer personal care, such as assistance with eating, bathing, grooming and personal hygiene. Some nursing care is also provided, including medication administration and dressing changes.
Costs for assisted living generally range from $2,000 to $4,000 per month and vary depending on the size of living area an older adult chooses, area of the state and the amount of care needed. Individuals on a Medicaid waiver program who would have to enter a nursing facility, nursing facility residents who would have to remain in a nursing home, and current residents of an assisted living facility who have exhausted private resources may be eligible for Ohio's new Assisted Living Waiver Program.
To determine if assisted living is a good option for you, contact your Area Agency on Aging and request a free assessment. The Long-term Care Consumer Guide is an online tool that can help you find and compare nursing and residential care facilities, including assisted living, in your area.
Ohio's Assisted Living Waiver Program pays the costs of care in an Assisted Living facility for certain people with Medicaid, allowing the consumer to use his or her resources to cover "room and board" expenses.
In the budget bill for the 2006-2007 biennium, the Ohio General Assembly authorized the creation of a Medicaid-funded assisted living waiver. The legislation authorizes funding beginning July 1, 2006. Download and review the Assisted Living Statute (Ohio Revised Code) (15kb).
In September, 2005, a workgroup comprised of representatives from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Ohio Department of Aging, Ohio Department of Health and Office of Budget and Management began meeting to draft the waiver application, which was submitted to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on January 6, 2006. In December, 2005, the Department of Aging convened the Assisted Living Stakeholders Committee to provide guidance and resources relating to project design. Committee members include representatives from: the Ohio Assisted Living Association, Advocate for Not for Profit Services for Older Adults, Ohio Health Care Association, Ohio Center for Assisted Living, Academy of Nursing Homes, Public Housing Authority, HUD, Masonic Homes, Ohio Association for Area Agencies on Aging, PASSPORT Site Directors and the four state agency partners.
Rules regarding assisted living provider certification and qualifications became effective April 1, 2006. They are available for review at the Register of Ohio:
How To Become A Provider
Residential Care Facilities interested in becoming a Certified Assisted Living Provider with the Department of Aging should contact the appropriate PASSPORT Administrative Agency to request a provider application packet. Complete the ODA application, ODJFS provider agreement application and a portion of the Long Term Care Consumer Guide information packet and return the completed forms to the PASSPORT Administrative Ageny.
