Who Qualifies for Peoria Assisted Living?
Assisted living allows you to have the independence you deserve, along with the assistance you may need. As people age, they each require different levels of support. Sometimes, the best thing you can do to receive this assistance and have peace of mind is move into an assisted living community.
Assisted living communities can improve your quality of life by offering medical oversight, nutritious meals, socialization, educational opportunities, and any other assistance you may need.
Not everyone qualifies for assisted living, so knowing the criteria is important. Each state may have its own requirements for who can qualify. Here in Peoria, Arizona, we’ve got you covered! Here is how you can qualify for Peoria assisted living and how you can take advantage of some financial assistance:
Assistance Is Required
As the name “assisted living” implies, you must require some sort of daily assistance to qualify. For Arizona, seniors must need assistance with at least two activities of daily living, meaning that the seniors can no longer safely complete these activities on their own. These daily activities can include eating, going to the restroom, medication management, bathing, grooming, or dressing. If assistance is needed for at least two of these activities, moving to assisted living may be the best option.
Each assisted living community is different and may have its own requirements for this. For instance, some may require that the seniors have a certain level of independence, like bathing or dressing. We here at the Mission of Agua Fria do not have these requirements and are happy to assist our residents with whatever daily activities they need extra help with.
Can Live Unassisted
It may seem contradictory to say that a senior must be able to live safely in an unassisted setting to live in assisted living, but it’s true. Seniors moving to assisted living communities will not receive 24-hour constant care as they would in a nursing home. Due to this, the seniors moving to assisted living communities should be able to live safely somewhere unassisted. This means that they should be physically and mentally capable to live on their own for the most part.
This also means that seniors moving to assisted living should be in stable health that is well-managed, so if you do live with a chronic illness or disease, it should be under control. If this is not the case and you need more extensive medical support or skilled nursing, a nursing home or memory care community may be the better fit for you.
Age
There’s no specific age one reaches where you automatically qualify for assisted living, but some communities do have a minimum age required for their residents. Check with your potential communities to see if they have a minimum age.
Typically, the minimum age for assisted living is once you enter your senior years. Some view their senior years as starting as young as 55, while others may have a higher age. However, when it comes to qualifying for financial solutions to help with assisted living costs, age plays a factor.
Financial Solutions
The cost of assisted living can feel overwhelming. Thankfully, if you’re looking for a Peoria assisted living and are an Arizona resident, you may qualify for the Arizona Long-Term Care System (ALTCS). This is the Medicaid assistance in Arizona that seniors living in the state can qualify for. The criteria are that you must be an Arizona resident that’s 65 years old or older, have a social security number, be assessed by the Arizona Healthcare Cost Containment Center System (AHCCCS), have earned income under $2,250 and have countable resources under $2,000.
Additionally, if you are a veteran or the surviving spouse of a veteran, you may qualify for Veteran’s Aid. The Department of Veteran Affairs Aid And Pension benefit offers this financial solution. Veteran’s Aid is tax-free and will provide you with a certain amount of money every month that you can use to cover the cost of assisted living. To qualify for this benefit, you must have the applicable wartime service and have both a medical and a financial need. If you are the surviving spouse of a veteran, you must not have gotten married again to qualify for the Veteran’s Aid.
A third financial solution that we here at the Mission at Agua Fria accept is a bridge loan. This is a loan option where you have 12 months to complete the payment. For instance, if you know you are going to have the money within the next year but just do not have it right now as you are awaiting the sale of a house or another big asset, this is a good option for you. With a bridge loan, you are only borrowing the money you need; you are not borrowing more. You are even able to pay off the loan in under 12 months if you receive the funds quicker than expected.
When it comes to qualifying for assisted living, each state has its own requirements. Even when looking solely at Peoria assisted living, each community may have its own qualifications, too. Because of this, it is important to do your research and ask the right questions when looking into different communities. Make sure you ask them if they have any criteria you must meet to live there. Additionally, make sure to ask if they offer any financial solutions, and if they do, what the eligibility requirements would be.We encourage you to consider the Mission at Agua Fria as one of the Peoria assisted living communities you are looking at. Please contact us today if you are curious about our criteria for qualifying for assisted living or for the financial solutions we offer, and we are happy to answer any questions you may have.