The only thing worse than having to spend the remainder of your natural life in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) of your choosing, is spending the remainder of your natural life in a Skilled Nursing Facility NOT of your choosing.
Is there a difference?
You betcha.
When I need rehabilitation care (almost always provided in a SNF), as part of a healing and recovery phase after a stay in an acute care hospital, 99 out of 100 times I’m going to a SNF for a 3-5 week stay.
Now here’s the caveat . . . You are ALWAYS in a better position strategically when YOU have the time and resources to choose the SNF, instead of the SNF choosing you.
Example: After an acute hospital stay for a recent bout of pneumonia, I called my sister, a social worker with a strong background in local SNFs, and she came up with a list of SNFs ranked by a half-dozen criteria. Now, the next step . . . We APPLIED to each and every SNF on the Top Six List. This is a critical step. Why? Because Good SNFs are like good colleges. Admission is competitive and they’re expensive.
That’s right, SNFs choose you. And like good colleges, they’re going to choose residents who have resources over those with limited or no resources. Why? Because a resident who can pay for their care from their own assets are always more attractive than residents who depend on Medicaid.
What’s the message here?
Make sure you have the resources to fund an SNF stay.
And because most Americans do not have $2 million saved for an extended stay, the idea is to divert the massive financial liability onto an insurer. . . for pennies on the dollar.
This, a simple way of saying, “Buy LTC insurance.”
Today. While you’re still insurable.
PS. I was premature in my assessment of the Phoebe Ministries SNF. I admit to four days of crankiness following my pneumonia. They’re actually very responsive to my care needs and have a good PT program. Sorry.
Over 140 years old, Phoebe Ministries from 1926
