Is it unreasonable for an assisted living facility to raise the rent by $700 per month during a national crisis that we are in?

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Is it unreasonable for an assisted living facility to raise the rent by $700 per month during a national crisis that we are in?

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Did you receive any advance notice in writing regarding the rate increase? I know of a couple in assisted living whose rate was raised in January, 2020. Typically, costs increase not decrease depending on expenditures. Not for profit facilities need to break even; for profit facilities want to show a profit. Assisted living residents have care plans which outline what services each resident receives based on needs. Had your mother's care plan changed? Is she receiving an increased level of care? Maybe it would be worthwhile to speak with the executive director of the facility to review her bill.

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The sad thing about a nursing home or assisted living is they can charge whatever

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You need to talk speak with the Director , If a "level of care " has changed then that may be the reason , But even then they would have given a notice and the POA would have to agree to the payment. If you did everything you can , get an lawyer. .

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I would check my contract before I did anything else to see if it has a cap or a time span on increases. When and how much was the last increase? Did you get an advance notice of this increase? are you the power of attorney or could the notice of the increase have gone to your mother? As others have suggested has the level of care increased? If it has, this raise could be in line with what is charged. Although we are fairly sure they are not attempting to hire more CNAs additional cost to any facility in the present time might be related to additional purchases required for masks and protective clothing . This type of cost would have to be spread across all residents in the facility even though your loved one may not be showing any symptoms or have the virus. Regardless of increase, it unfortunately will not go into the pockets of the hard-working understaffed CNAs in the facility.
I wish you good luck in your attempt to find out what the increase is about and I do hope you will keep the forum informed as to your findings.

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Here in California all you have to have is a 30 day notice. Assisted living facilities are generally privately owned and they can do whatever they want.

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Unfortunately, James, when your money runs out, an AL can evict you. (just like any apartment rental)Probably with virus crisis, they may have to hold on to residents for now. As a former care manager, I have seen several elders seeking placement once funds for AL were exhausted. It is also a problem to get a nursing home placement. Must have a qualifying medical need, and if no money, have to qualify for Medicaid. (That's no easy task with 5 year look back) I have seen families take in their "evicted" elder.

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I'd give those dirty rats a piece of my mind

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No, why are they raising the price that much for what they should have been doing anyway. The death rates in the elder care facilities are outrageous. They should have been taking extra precautions because the elderly's immune systems are already predisposed to illness. I would ask them why such a price hike.

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What state are you in?
I believe that it isn’t allowed now in NY and NJ.

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Contact the Ombudsman's office in your area. If you get nowhere with that, contact the Attorney General's office for your state. That seems like a sort of gouging to me...at this particular time.

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I agree completely!

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I am very sorry to hear that this AL chose to do this. I have no idea why this has happened in this case so I will not speculate.

I can tell you that crisis situations bring out the best in people and the worst in people. This happened in my city after a horrendous hurricane. After Hurricane Katrina rent and housing costs went up significantly.

Sadly, many of us lost our homes and all of their contents and greedy landlords and real estate owners took advantage to people needing homes and prices shot up in the city and the entire metro area, (burbs).

I hope that kindness will prevail during these awful times. As bad as a hurricane or other natural disasters are, this is worse. It is global!

We have seen wonderful acts of generosity and kindness. We have also seen stupidity and ignorance such as people deliberately disobeying regulations regarding the coronavirus. Very sad and selfish of these people to do.

Follow up with this. I would at least ask if you could delay the additional payment if it is out of your reach at this time. Again, I am sorry that you are dealing with this situation. Let us know if this is resolved to your satisfaction. We care.

Best wishes to you and your family. 💗

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Go to Accounting office or call them if they don’t allow visitors...& ask them why the increase...& then see Head Nurse in charge if her needs & care increased ...maybe time for an updated care plan meeting. If her needs increased, then perhaps she needs a nursing facility instead of Assisted living. Communication is important. But as far as currently, nobody can be evicted for lack of paying rent because of covid 19 law . & I don’t think they can increase rent now ...at least in NY that’s now law. If talking to them is a waste of time, go further by contHugs 🤗

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Contact your local Congressman/woman and find out directly who you are suppose to contact about this. No this is not acceptable and there are severe penalties for gouging. Even insurance companies are waving co-pays, etc. for COVID-19 patients. We have a Governor’s Council son Aging in my state. See if you have one in your state. I am in S.C. If your mother is on Medicare in rehab, call the Center For Medicare/Medicaid Services. They will check it out. Does your mother have Medicare Supplement? Just wondering because you should not be receiving a bill if it is rehab. If she were in a nursing home as a resident and you are on self-pay, they will try to jerk you around. Call that Ombudsman. Google Ombudsman and your state and you will get the phone number.

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Elaine....her mother is not on Medicare in rehab. She’s in assisted living. She’s not in rehab. She lives in assisted living, it’s all spelled out in the post.

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No facility caregiving stops, COVID-19 or not! Please do look at your mother's original contract you had signed for and carefully read the fine print. Why a 19% rate increase instead of a reasonable 5%, for example, in less than a one month notice? Ask for an updated written copy that states the breakdown of necessary services. If unable to obtain a written notice, please contact the facility's director. If suspicious of fraud also contact an elder law attorney.

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I reread your post after I commented and I realize that she is not rehab. In this case, call the Ombudsman for your state.

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How is this gouging?

The monthly rate is quite moderate, even after the increase.

But more to the point, the OP has agreed no contract with the ALF. His mother has been in the care of this facility for three months, but for no doubt good reasons of his own he has chosen not to settle on it as a permanent, long term or even medium term placement for his mother.

You can be in a position where price increases are controlled by state law (in some states) and the terms of your contract.

Or, you can have the freedom to move your relative without notice to the ALF and suffer no financial penalty.

But you can't reasonably expect both.

I don't think it is the central issue, here, but the financial costs of the coronavirus - more specifically, responses to it - are incalculable. If the ALF's costs rise by only 19%* by the end of this next financial year I suspect they will be incredibly relieved.

*[They won't. Not a chance.]

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Sorry, but how is this NOT rent gauging? If it relates to a higher level of care needed, they should have called a care plan meeting with the family. I suspect it's related to extra costs related to Covid 19. Not sure it's legit to raise the fee like that, depends on a variety of factors. But if the home it taking in thousands of dollars a month more, it sounds to me like opportunistic profiteering. Shameful.

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Price gouging during a state or federal emergency is a crime. Do the following:
1) Gather records of previous bills.
2) Simply request an itemized bill for the month (s) with the increase, including how you were notified of the increase.
3) Contact your State Attorney General's Office and file a complaint for price gouging. Keep extra copies & originals of all documents. Send copies.
4) At any opportunity, find out if others received Notices of the increase & how much. Are they only charging Self-pay or those with Private Long Term Care the huge increase. Are they charging Medicare? Medicaid?
5) Inform your local State Representatives! Even a personal letter to your Governor.
-- If they are one of the few who dragged their feet on requiring rigorous protections be put in place -- then it will be harder, but you could save lives. Also then the actions they took were pragmatic & needed, but technically optional.
6) Befriend a local or major news reporter. Develope a relationship of trust. You need to file charges and allow an investigation before it comes out in the press. But if you don't hear back in a reasonable time...people are down staffed & working from home. Go public!

It sounds like the extra charge is for basic daily/monthly rate. While they may have extra costs, like PPEs, they should have been using more of them already each Flu 😷 Season. Did they charge extra if a patient was immune comprised... because they should have used extra protection to protect that patient & prevent cross contamination.

Information is gold here! Is the total bill went up for specialized individual care, like extra resperitory therapy, that is allowed. Charging extra cause meals have to be delivered to the room due to CDC or State Requirements...not allowed!

Extra cleaning costs, not allowed! Besides with dining room closed, they are not sanitizing those tables daily.

If they are being price gouged by providers of PPEs or other essential supplies. Then it is their responsibility to file charges with the State Attorney General..not charge patients.

An analogy:
If someone stole there computers, wheelchairs, transfer equipment, and expensive PT equipment, then poured paint of urine on walls & floors it would be costly immediate expense. A criminal offence. A necessity of operations to clean, sanitize & replace immediately.

It would be a crisis for them. It would not be cause for raising standard rate of care!
Also, if they are only charging Self-pay patients for expenses provided to all, talk to an ACLU or private Attorney for Elderly Services. Ask them about pros & cons of going public. Best to have info from other families in any case!

Glad you brought this to everyone's attention! I pray your LO will be safe.

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Excellent advice!

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Is this just an increase for rent or her care too. Are they charging because they need to deliver meals to the rooms?

In my opinion, 19% increase is a lot. I looked it up for ur state and I see no law putting a cap on rent increases.

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If all the residents are getting the same rent increase percentage then there is nothing you can do. The ALF is a private enterprise and does not guarantee your mother a place to live. Alternatively, maybe this situation could help you spending down some of your mother’s assets to go on Medicaid for NH.

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In the current environment, many states are stopping evictions. The ALF is subject to the same rules as other places. Each court in Ohio is handling things differently. I would contact the local court, and ask them how they are handling ALFs.

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I'd say first thing is to call and talk with administrator. Let them know that this percentage seems way too high. Tell them, you would consider something in neighborhood of 4 or 5 %. See what they say. Rents are negotiable. People do not all pay the same amount for their spaces. Sometimes when an increase goes in - they use that time to make adjustments to normalize the amounts / equalize. But they can also shift it if they want to keep your business.

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19% increase is awfully high. If there was no prior warning, I would be very suspect. In fact, due to the pandemic and the increased risk for the elderly, this could look like a morbid business decision to keep the profits at the same level. I would first make sure there wasn't some sort of accounting mistake. If they back up this severe hike, I would go directly to a consumer advocacy person (think television person) to out this piranha-like business practice.

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Your contract with the facility, and state laws usually mandate rent increase allotments. Remember Assisted Living is similar to a landlord tenant agreement. Review your contract(s) to clarify annual rent increases.

If it's a medicare/Medicaid facility, even if/when your relative is NOT on Medicaid/Medicare everyone who lives within a CMS (Medicare/Medicaid) facility is, technically protected by Federal laws.

Costs haven't risen during Covid19 protocols. In truth, costs have shifted,
ie: patients and residents are restricted from outside activities, which deleted transportation costs, which opened $$$$ for extra hand sanitizers. The cost of delivering meals to dining rooms is not much different than delivering meals to rooms.

Follow the directives to contact other families about costs, rent-increases, and look at the Assisted Living contract. Then contact the administrator or billing about the price increase.

Sidebar; We have an ongoing in-house scam to bill residents, for a communications package no matter if the resident utilizes the phone, TV or internet, etc. It's an all or nothing "package." Mentioned to emphasize that facilities are always 100% revenue driven places. The technical logistics is where the deception sits, hidden.

Excuses:
1.Your mother's costs increased due to re-classification. Medicare/Medicaid implemented a new payment system in October, which removed therapies as the determinant of monthly charges. (Re-classification did not increase costs, instead it dropped revenue.)
2. We just entered into the 3rd quarter, quarters have zero relevance.
3.COVID19 increased costs. Nope the infamous virus shifted costs, as mentioned previously.

Your Ohio local ombudsman might be helpful, also ... Unfortunately facilities are notorious for barely legal behaviors... When they violate laws ...their unethical responses = "the resident must have misunderstood."

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It’s assisted living. It’s not a Medicare/Medicaid facility.

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Check with your local community care licensing division and let them know about this increase. They regulate licensing for senior care businesses, if there is anything fraudulent happening, they will be the ones to investigate and represent you on your behalf. From my own perspective, this is not reasonable to do this during this time, but then again, I am not up to date with regs surrounding this issue. As a paying customer, you have the legal right to ask for a breakdown of their justification for the price increase. If they are legitimate, they will have no problem providing you with this information. On the other hand, if their intent is to price gouge to take advantage of the situation...then you have a very challenging dilemma...reach out to licensing. Good luck with everything.

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Contact your state's Attorney General. Price gouging during a national crisis is against the law. They will investigate quickly and order a cease and desist order. The business may be fined for taking advantage of this crisis, especially when it comes to targeting the elderly!

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Ok, I have a number for you!
Beneficiary & Family Centers Care Quality Improvement Organization (BFCC)
888-755-5580

If they can't help call 1-800- Medicare and ask for Inspector General.

Please share!

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No

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No. That is an illegal practice and known in the broad umbrella of "price gouging" - especially during this Novel Coronavirus. Contact your State's Attorney.

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It depends on what they are doing and if there is any sort of government relief available to them or to you.

I am an RN and there is extra work involved. Some employees have been demanding an increase in pay. There may be extra things they are doing for social distancing - like having 2 dinner shifts instead of one. They may have hired more cleaning staff and certainly they are using more supplies like gloves and masks. ( or they should be.)

They should be quarantining their patients and changing routines with staff and patients.
If what they are doing is legal and necessary then they should be willing to provide you with a list of their extra expenses related to the covid-19 crisis to justify the added expense.

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After skimming through most of the comments, I agree with the hazard pay, Considering COVID 19 is high in Ohio, they may have to pay incentives to keep their help. I know in Kirkland WA the help was walking out right and left and the deaths of the residents were horrible. I will also say, $3700 a month is a DEAL. My mom paid that in a Veteran's home. All the other homes in our area charge $7000 a month for the basic care. If there is 2 person assit, and they need 02 the care has been running $500 more a month. I agree is seems like a big jump, but considering you moved her just before the end of the year, they may be factoring that into the increase as well. I would ask. Keep in mind, there are NH closing in our area, NE, because there are so many residents who are on Medicaid, and the vacilities struggle to made ends meet.
Good Luck, and stay healthy.

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This sounds like price gouging to me. For the price of gas or food to jump 19% in a national emergency it would be seen as an act of price gouging. This sounds like the same thing.

The assisted living facility should be able to show the justification of the price hike. If they can not get in contact with your state's Attorney General's office. They will crack down on the price gouging. Also reach out to your state's department of aging or health and human services. They may also be able to help.

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i would have gasped like i had ashma at that one, their prices are high enough without adding insult to injury, how would they like it if their rent at home or mortgage increased by that amount.

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Is it unreasonable for an assisted living facility to raise the rent by $700 per month during a national crisis that we are in?

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