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The sordid reality of retirement villages: Residents are being milked for profit

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Re: The sordid reality of retirement villages: Residents are being milked for profit

#101

Post by rco8786 »

spwa4 wrote: post #91
rco8786 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean that's just trivially true right? For profit corporations are designed to maximize profits, therefore they must try to maximize the amount of money they extract from their customers.

As opposed to public companies? Come to Northwest Europe and you'll find a very similar problem: elderly in homes, so incredibly understaffed that there simply isn't anyone to pick up someone who falls for hours. These days every few months there's a new "accident" reported in these places. They have been destaffed to dangerous levels. Apparently last months' issue was that the administration was wrong. A room that h…

I'm not prescribing a solution nor passing any judgment. Simply making an observation.

It's an incredibly difficult problem with no perfect solution.

Re: The sordid reality of retirement villages: Residents are being milked for profit

#102

Post by John23832 »

triceratops wrote: post #79
John23832 wrote: post #10

Under capitialism, why would anyone think that this is anything but expected. These living communities are meant to house you, until you die, for a price. You have saved up money to pay for that service until you die. Why would they leave money on the table? Why would they spend any extra on someone who's "going to die anyway". Someone who is barely ambulatory; who has few outside connections. It's the horrible resul…

Is there a reason to believe this wouldn't happen under other economic systems?

Yes there is.

Wringing the elderly for profit would not happen under any other economic system because Capitalism is the only economic system which puts profit as the central motivation.

My understanding is the profit is purely a capitalistic idea. Feel free to prove me wrong.

Re: The sordid reality of retirement villages: Residents are being milked for profit

#103

Post by red-iron-pine »

leoqa wrote: post #43

I’m not particularly sympathetic to retirement home narratives that paint each person as a lonely, incompetent senior wasting away. I witnessed first hand how my mother spent her adulthood partying instead of providing and now it’s become a critical issue for our family to provide for her. Ultimately I don’t expect my children (or staff-journalist) to project pity on me for my circumstances. I run a weekly route with…

> I think it is everyone’s duty to buy long-term care insurance (perhaps the government should provide this, as we will all need it)

this is called Social Security

Re: The sordid reality of retirement villages: Residents are being milked for profit

#106

Post by gwbas1c »

dash2 wrote: post #56

I read the article and didn't actually see any evidence that this is not a reasonably fair and functional system. I did read: * People complaining that the cafe wasn't as good as they liked. * The fact that old people have signed up for a retirement village. * The fact that some of them get confused and need help. What's the evidence base here?

The kind of facility and services provided are quite expensive.

What I think is more frustrating is that they aren't upfront about the costs; although I think many of the residents wouldn't live there if they were upfront about the costs, even though they can afford it.

Otherwise, it seems like some very basic reform about explaining costs is needed, and some reform to prevent episodes like the lady laying on the floor for 45 minutes.

Re: The sordid reality of retirement villages: Residents are being milked for profit

#107

Post by supportengineer »

notmyjob wrote: post #51
leoqa wrote: post #43

I’m not particularly sympathetic to retirement home narratives that paint each person as a lonely, incompetent senior wasting away. I witnessed first hand how my mother spent her adulthood partying instead of providing and now it’s become a critical issue for our family to provide for her. Ultimately I don’t expect my children (or staff-journalist) to project pity on me for my circumstances. I run a weekly route with…

The problem with LTC insurance is it’s likely to go belly up and you are at the end of the day dealing with an insurer whose business model involves denying valid claims. All of that is assuming you can actually get LTC insurance. Good luck if you are over 50. It’s like the private form of social security, a Ponzi that’s approaching its moment of truth.

Every insurer's business model involved denying valid claims.

By maximizing the float you can maximize risk-free returns

Re: The sordid reality of retirement villages: Residents are being milked for profit

#108

Post by BeetleB »

justmedep wrote: post #99
BeetleB wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LTC is risky, as others have pointed out. My company offers one that claims to be reliable (owned by an insurance company that's been around for over 100 years, albeit not in the LTC space). The one thing I didn't like about them: They don't adjust for inflation. So if you sign up for a $100K plan, you'll get $100K - which will worth a lot less by the time I need it.

Isn’t that adjusting for inflation and not for cost of living?

Fixed - thanks.

Re: The sordid reality of retirement villages: Residents are being milked for profit

#109

Post by dendrite9 »

stouset wrote: post #44
ryandrake wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retirees are more likely than not to have built up at least a small pension or 401(k)[USA]: money sitting there earning interest and capital gains. You don't think the Aging Industry is going to just sit around and not try to grab as much of it as they can? They are going to do their best to ensure the system is set up to let them harvest those accounts dry.

I would wager that’s exactly what the GP thinks. It was pretty clear to me they think the entire system is set up so that anyone with needs is milked to extract the maximum possible amount of money.

I know someone who started an elder care business with explicitly this purpose. He stopped working in the more conventional medical system because he saw an opportunity. Unsure how it is going at this point, I haven't checked in recently.

Elder care is hard, and expensive. Friends have worked in various levels of it at various times, from food services on up. There is clearly some good for people to be around a community and there are real needs that require constant attention for some. But there is a drive to do more with less which almost always seems to end up with stories of people not being attended to as quickly as you might hope.

Memory care is particularly difficult, on the family and on the businesses. It is just so all consuming and from the outside it can be hard to know if adequate care is being taken. Of course I do know someone who's mom put her dad into memory care, then moved and basically started a new life with a boyfriend while still married so she had access to the money.

My parent's solution is to day they don't want to draw things out. But I think that is easy to say from a position of health and barring any significant diagnosis there is more of a slow slide to infirmity than a clear juncture to make such a choice. We'll see, my family is close and I expect we will provide care in person. But also life is complicated and that is a ways off.

Re: The sordid reality of retirement villages: Residents are being milked for profit

#110

Post by triceratops »

John23832 wrote: post #102
triceratops wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a reason to believe this wouldn't happen under other economic systems?

Yes there is. Wringing the elderly for profit would not happen under any other economic system because Capitalism is the only economic system which puts profit as the central motivation. My understanding is the profit is purely a capitalistic idea. Feel free to prove me wrong.

Does that mean the elderly would be better cared for?
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