Despite the progress in reception and entertainment, almost no one wants to end their days in retirement homes. If home support is extended as much as possible, unfortunately it often happens that care in an appropriate structure is essential.
According to the figures available, some 728,000 people were living in accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad) at the end of 2016. First criterion of choice, the price is then decisive.
A prohibitive charge rest
If the cost of care provided in these medicalized structures is covered by Health Insurance and is therefore not billed to residents, they must however pay the dependency rate and the accommodation price. However, in a survey published at the end of 2018, Drees, the statistical institute of the Ministry of Health, estimated this participation at at least 1,850 euros monthly for half of them. The median addition ranges from 1,730 euros in non-hospital public nursing homes and can reach up to 2,420 euros in private for-profit structures.
Please note, we are talking here about “remaining payable”, in other words the bill actually paid by the residents, once the contributions of the maintenance obliges and the various allowances received deducted… To meet the cost of a retirement home, the seniors can indeed count on several cumulative devices.
Three public financial aids
The personalized autonomy allowance, APA, first of all covers part of the dependency tariff billed by the Ehpad. Only people aged 60 or over, whose degree of loss of autonomy corresponds to one of groups 1 to 4 of the Aggir grid, can benefit from this assistance. These are individuals who at best need daily help with eating, washing, getting around and dressing, and, in the most severe cases (classified as Gir 1 and 2), are confined in bed or in a wheelchair, with impaired mental functions. Check with the Ehpad chosen to obtain the appropriate request file.
Each retirement home also invoices the cost of accommodation, which includes hotel, catering, maintenance and leisure costs. Means-tested, this price can be reduced by social housing assistance (ASH) as part of a nursing home or approved accommodation. However, the allocation procedures depend on each departmental council. The application file is to be collected from the town hall or the municipal social action center. In addition, the Family Allowance Fund (CAF) can also help you. Conventionally, the amount granted depends on the beneficiary's resources and the amount of the Ehpad accommodation rate. You can estimate your rights and make your request on the Caf.fr website.
Family support to the rescue
Because this public aid is far from always sufficient, the elderly also call on their loved ones to pay the bill for their retirement home. The law also establishes a reciprocal maintenance obligation between ascendants and descendants. In the same way that your parents took care of you when you were a child, it is now your turn to return the favor. That said, only 11% of seniors said they had recourse to financial assistance from those around them in the 2018 DREES survey.
Most often, residents of Ehpad rather rely on their personal resources, including their savings, to finance their old age. One in three residents say they have to use their savings, while one in ten plans to sell property to cover these costs.
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Ask about
In order to facilitate the search for a retirement home, the official internet portal Pour-les-personnes-agees.gouv.fr offers a comparator service allowing the prices of nursing homes to compete. Thanks to this tool, you can compare the dependency rates and the room prices, but also calculate your monthly dependent balance.
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