Can CCRC Residents Sign Away Their Civil Rights When They Enter a CCRC? Can they be subject to becoming homeless and bankrupt after living many years at a CCRC?

Are the questions that are raised in my headline possible? Yes. I am a legally blind and disabled resident of a CCRC for the past 17 years. My apartment currently costs me $67,000 per year and will go up every year. Despite my disabilities, I prepare my meals, write my columns and keep my apartment squeaky clean with only 45 minutes of housekeeping help per week.

Because my apartment costs absorb nearly all of my income, I applied for our CCRC executive director for some relief. His suggestion was that I move to a smaller apartment to reduce my financial obligation to the CRCC. Such a move would endanger my health and safety, which did not seem to disturb the management at all. 

How can I possibly pay $67,000 per year and meet my other necessary obligations, such as supplemental care and an insurance policy that covers very high hospital costs that are not covered by Medicare? For example, I was hospitalized in 2013 year and received a bill for $60,000, which my insurance covered completely. My premium per month is $400, and my prescription medication costs $300 per month. I also have dental bills, fees to my accountant for doing my income tax, and fees to my attorney who oversees my health care and protects me from exploitation by the CCRC management. I also have personal care needs and must purchase items for daily living that are not supplied by the CCRC.

Peace of Mind

How can a resident have peace of mind or a sense of security under such circumstances?

The entrance fees I paid when I came here 17 years ago disappeared after my first 90 days of residency. I was assured not to worry about running out of money because I would be cared for even if that happened. Unfortunately, the marketing director never told me that under my financial structure, the CCRC would never be responsible if I ran out of funds. The suggestion was given that I should move into a studio and give up an apartment in which I had invested $54,000 in improvements in order to make the rest of my life productive and comfortable.

I rejected this suggestion since I am blind, and any such move would seriously jeopardize my health. I also require room to house equipment for the blind. The facility would benefit greatly by selling my apartment to a couple, as they would then receive two entrance fees, plus two monthly care fees, instead of my one monthly care fee – even though it is very high.

I consider that the pressures put upon me constitute as mental abuse. Some of the facts I reveal in this column about my own personal experience as a CCRC resident may prove useful to anyone thinking about moving into a CCRC. When I entered my CCRC 17 years ago, a candidate for residency had to be reasonably healthy and under the age of 84. Today, anyone can enter the facility if they have the money to satisfy the management, and they can be admitted even if they are seriously ill. There are no age limits. This leaves an older and sicker population in the facility leaving people, who came in earlier, to subsidize this population.

Access to Services

I had to fight to stay in my own apartment in order to get my services to puree my food, receive it in my apartment, and resist being moved to the skilled nursing facility only because I needed pureed food. My self-determination was also put at risk because the management was determined to silence me and prevent me from writing columns critical of the CCRC industry.