WEBVTT 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:02.520 Hi, I'm Clayton Vandiver, your Lightkeeper, and 00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:04.219 this summer we have a special treat for you. 00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:07.759 It's called Lightkeepers Podcast Shorts. That's 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:10.279 not a new clothing line, but that's a great idea. 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:13.439 Actually, it's short episodes under 10 minutes 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:16.879 long of our most popular Lightkeepers Podcast 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:22.670 episodes. This is part two. Enjoy. Welcome to 00:00:22.670 --> 00:00:25.350 the Light Keepers podcast. I'm Clayton Vandiver, 00:00:25.489 --> 00:00:28.190 your Light Keeper, with a show dedicated to everyone 00:00:28.190 --> 00:00:30.769 who wants to get the most quality out of life 00:00:30.769 --> 00:00:34.369 that they can. My co -host, as always, Charlene, 00:00:34.429 --> 00:00:37.570 our very own licensed clinical social worker, 00:00:37.729 --> 00:00:40.490 certified in the state of Florida. Hey, we invite 00:00:40.490 --> 00:00:43.229 you to join the conversation this week about 00:00:43.229 --> 00:00:47.250 different levels of care and how to pay for them. 00:00:47.490 --> 00:00:51.070 And so much more on this edition. of the Light 00:00:51.070 --> 00:01:24.340 Keepers Podcast. What resources? A few weeks 00:01:24.340 --> 00:01:27.019 ago we were talking about vetting and investigating 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:30.200 the professionals that are working with you to 00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:34.079 make sure that they're reputable and not witch 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:37.379 doctors. That was an interesting episode. I'm 00:01:37.379 --> 00:01:40.099 wondering, is there a way to vet or investigate 00:01:40.099 --> 00:01:43.719 these sort of facilities ahead of time before 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:45.859 you send a loved one there or before you go there 00:01:45.859 --> 00:01:49.219 yourself? Absolutely. And provided this is a 00:01:49.219 --> 00:01:52.019 situation that you have some control over, I 00:01:52.019 --> 00:01:55.620 would absolutely recommend checking out any facility. 00:01:56.780 --> 00:01:59.540 And I know I'm going to upset a lot of facility 00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:04.000 employees when I say this. Make sure you take 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.060 a tour of the facility. Lay eyes on the facility, 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:10.560 but don't let them know you're coming. Okay, 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:13.639 so an unannounced visit is a good thing. Unannounced 00:02:13.639 --> 00:02:16.039 visit is a good thing. Otherwise, they're going 00:02:16.039 --> 00:02:18.759 to have the staff on their best behavior, and 00:02:18.759 --> 00:02:20.819 they're going to have things nice and neat and 00:02:20.819 --> 00:02:23.879 clean. And for some facilities, that may be the 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:27.530 normal. Hi, Wizzy. For other facilities, that 00:02:27.530 --> 00:02:30.090 may not be. One of our cats checking in to make 00:02:30.090 --> 00:02:32.129 sure we're covering all of this information for 00:02:32.129 --> 00:02:34.889 you. I'm curious, is there a central website 00:02:34.889 --> 00:02:38.629 with any rankings or ratings that folks could 00:02:38.629 --> 00:02:41.729 be referred to? So Medicare does have a system. 00:02:41.909 --> 00:02:44.969 The U .S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 00:02:45.509 --> 00:02:49.150 also known as CMS. So if you hear me say CMS, 00:02:49.469 --> 00:02:52.270 that's the Center for Medicare and Medicaid. 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:56.479 They have a five -star quality rating system 00:02:56.479 --> 00:03:01.099 that can be researched online. And basically 00:03:01.099 --> 00:03:04.520 what they do is they have these facilities rated. 00:03:05.539 --> 00:03:09.500 Thank you. They have these facilities rated according 00:03:09.500 --> 00:03:15.979 to Medicare standards. And they have those ratings 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:18.860 online where people can research them and look 00:03:18.860 --> 00:03:21.680 at them. But I wouldn't recommend stopping there. 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:26.900 I would also recommend looking at reviews. Reviews 00:03:26.900 --> 00:03:29.039 are important, keeping in mind, of course, that 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:30.819 there are some people that will complain about 00:03:30.819 --> 00:03:33.759 anything and everything. So take those reviews 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:36.400 with a grain of salt. Fair enough. But reviews 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:38.939 are important because these are normally left 00:03:38.939 --> 00:03:41.060 by people who have had firsthand experience. 00:03:41.539 --> 00:03:44.800 Sure. And, of course, word of mouth. If you know 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:47.020 someone who's had personal experience, that's 00:03:47.020 --> 00:03:49.680 going to be important also. Well now a few years 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:52.580 ago in the state of Florida there was an agency 00:03:52.580 --> 00:03:57.020 of the Department of Elder Affairs and they were 00:03:57.020 --> 00:04:00.500 called the Ombudsman. That group actually went 00:04:00.500 --> 00:04:03.580 to facilities like this, nursing homes, skilled 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:07.740 nursing facilities, and they did surprise visits. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:13.180 They rated them, not raided, but rated them on 00:04:13.180 --> 00:04:15.180 their performance and cleanliness and so forth. 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:19.759 And they really did help these facilities to 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:23.120 maintain standards and to do a really good job 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:26.550 in the state of Florida. Are they still doing 00:04:26.550 --> 00:04:29.550 what they used to do? Because I haven't heard 00:04:29.550 --> 00:04:31.930 of them in a very long time. So that can vary 00:04:31.930 --> 00:04:35.769 from state to state as funding varies. That is 00:04:35.769 --> 00:04:37.689 definitely something that I would encourage someone 00:04:37.689 --> 00:04:40.910 to look into with their own state's Department 00:04:40.910 --> 00:04:45.649 of Elder Affairs, which is a good thing to look 00:04:45.649 --> 00:04:48.189 into anyway because you may want to have that 00:04:48.189 --> 00:04:52.149 information in case you need an advocate working 00:04:52.149 --> 00:04:57.870 with the nursing home. Nursing home care is important 00:04:57.870 --> 00:05:00.850 to have for those that need it. But in a lot 00:05:00.850 --> 00:05:03.870 of cases, home is going to be the best option 00:05:03.870 --> 00:05:07.250 if it's at all possible. Definitely something 00:05:07.250 --> 00:05:09.129 you would want to look into for the homes in 00:05:09.129 --> 00:05:13.009 your area. Well, I appreciate that. Oh, and I 00:05:13.009 --> 00:05:16.069 should introduce Isabelle. She's been in a few 00:05:16.069 --> 00:05:18.029 of our episodes so far, but this is her first 00:05:18.029 --> 00:05:22.360 time on camera. I guess we call her the therapy 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:25.480 cat around the house because she knows that whenever 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:27.720 we're working hard, she needs to be there to 00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:31.019 help us out and help us stay stress -free and 00:05:31.019 --> 00:05:35.319 cool, calm, and collected. So this is Isabelle. 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:38.439 She likes to be in the middle of everything. 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:40.600 And, you know, it's something we probably should 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.699 do an episode about at some point because animals 00:05:43.699 --> 00:05:46.879 play such an absolutely, you know, pets are a 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:49.660 great part of the family and they play a really 00:05:49.660 --> 00:05:52.990 important role. Absolutely. In reducing stress, 00:05:53.290 --> 00:05:55.569 in making life better. There are so many studies. 00:05:55.850 --> 00:05:59.689 There are a lot of studies that show the benefit 00:05:59.689 --> 00:06:04.889 of pet ownership, having those furry, feathered, 00:06:04.889 --> 00:06:08.790 or scaled family members. Absolutely. They have 00:06:08.790 --> 00:06:11.069 a lot of benefits to our personal health, to 00:06:11.069 --> 00:06:16.879 our emotional health. It's good to do for them. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:19.660 There are so many animals out there that need 00:06:19.660 --> 00:06:23.120 a family and need a home, and I'm glad she can 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:25.000 be a part of ours. She looks great on camera, 00:06:25.100 --> 00:06:28.639 let me tell you. So we know we're going to the 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:35.699 hospital, and what is a typical stay for the 00:06:35.699 --> 00:06:39.339 patient from admission to discharge, the entire 00:06:39.339 --> 00:06:42.540 process, before they ever get? Since we're talking 00:06:42.540 --> 00:06:44.319 about levels of care, that's really where the 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:47.560 care often starts. It is where the care often 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:55.000 starts, and that's something that is a topic 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:57.459 that we really don't have time to get into today 00:06:57.459 --> 00:07:00.680 because there's a lot of great information that 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:03.100 needs to be shared about that, starting with 00:07:03.100 --> 00:07:05.740 going to the hospital, how you get there, whether 00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:11.500 you're a trauma call or... or a walk -in admission, 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:14.319 so to speak. We don't have time to get into all 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:16.300 of that here today, but definitely something 00:07:16.300 --> 00:07:18.360 we should cover. Well, I'll tell you what. Why 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:20.600 don't we make that our next episode for our listeners 00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:24.019 and our viewers? Because the hospital stay really 00:07:24.019 --> 00:07:27.139 is the first point of contact with the system 00:07:27.139 --> 00:07:30.040 for a lot of people when we're talking about 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:33.240 levels of care and how to pay for them. Like 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:35.899 you said, Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:39.579 Which of these pays for some of these facilities 00:07:39.579 --> 00:07:44.060 we're talking about again? So Medicare and Medicaid 00:07:44.060 --> 00:07:48.860 will pay for rehab if you have to go to a skilled 00:07:48.860 --> 00:07:52.540 nursing facility. It will not pay anything towards 00:07:52.540 --> 00:07:58.660 assisted living, independent living, and nothing 00:07:58.660 --> 00:08:03.379 towards skilled nursing residential. And a lot 00:08:03.379 --> 00:08:05.620 of people balk at that when I tell them. I've 00:08:05.620 --> 00:08:07.779 had people get angry with me and say, you know, 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:09.759 they've paid into the system all their lives. 00:08:10.199 --> 00:08:14.300 And that may be, but unfortunately it's important 00:08:14.300 --> 00:08:18.240 to note that asking Medicare to pay for someone 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:20.680 to live in a skilled nursing facility would be 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:22.500 kind of like asking them to pay for your mortgage. 00:08:22.819 --> 00:08:25.980 It's not what you've paid into it for. Ah, I 00:08:25.980 --> 00:08:30.300 see. I see. 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