Life care managers, aka geriatric care managers, are social workers, nurses, therapists and other health care professionals who spend their days making sure that older adults are safe and well cared for. Paula Span reports for The New York Times on the value of having help from these professionals.
When you engage a life care manager, you get help with a wide range of burdensome yet important responsibilities that you might or might not be able to undertake yourself on behalf of a loved one. These care managers can complete Medicaid recertification forms, help patients move from one location to another, schedule medical appointments and accompany your loved one to the doctor, identify emergency caregivers and elder care lawyers, mediate among family members, and more.
In sum, instead of worrying about whether your loved one is being well taken care of, you can hire a life care manager to take on that burden. Unlike senior care advisers, patient advocates, and care navigators, aging life care managers are independent. They do not work for an insurance company or a hospital, and they are prohibited from getting kickbacks for referrals. While they will not provide care directly, they will coordinate your loved one’s care.
If you rely on a company to get free advice on how to best care for your mom, that company will likely have a fee arrangement with companies that it will steer you to. The company will not likely advise you on the best options for a loved one. That is not how it generates revenue.
So, if you use one of these companies, do so with your eyes open. Just as you can’t expect a Toyota car dealer to steer you to a Honda, even if you’re better off with one, you cannot expect these companies to steer you to the best facilities or care plans for your loved one. They have a financial incentive to direct you to the companies from which they generate their income.
Life care managers are incentivized to guide you to the best options for your loved one. But, you pay a price for that, between $150 and $350 an hour. If you have limited income, some care managers will charge on a sliding fee scale.
Span reports that few people are aware that they can hire a life care manager to ease their burden caring for a loved one. But, how many people can afford them?
