Assisted Living and Personal Care Communities

Assisted Living and Personal Care Communities provide 24 hour supervision, personal care assistance, meals and healthcare services in a home-like setting. Services include assistance with eating, bathing, dressing, using the bathroom, taking medicine, transportation, laundry and housekeeping. In addition, therapeutic social and recreational activities are also provided, making assisted living and personal care services excellent choices for people who enjoy active socialization that they may not be able to obtain in a home environment.

In Pennsylvania most homes that call themselves Assisted Living are in fact Personal Care Homes. While the services provided are largely similar, homes that are licensed in Pennsylvania as Assisted Living homes are subject to more regulation and are eligible to receive Medicaid funding (although that funding has yet to be paid, it exists legally). Personal care homes are less regulated, tend to have a lower (required) staffing ratio and are not eligible to receive Medicaid. There are very few licensed Assisted Living residences in Pennsylvania. This is important to recognize because there is a great deal of variation in the type of care provided, how they provide it and how much it will cost.

If you would like to have Slutsky Elder Law review a long term care policy please contact us at (610) 940-0650 to set up a consultation.