The Aging of America
Title: ELDER
CARE REFERRAL AGENCIES
Article Three
On November 25, 2012, this article was
published online by AARP.
The latest senior service is the online
senior placement sites which are known as the Elder Care Referral Agencies (ECRA). This is a new business which
started in 2000, and the industry now has annual sales over $100 million. The NEW YORK TIMES estimated that over 600
ECRAs exist in the United States.
The HUFFINGTON
POST reported that with the aging of America and the 78 million Baby Boomers
entering the senior housing market, this industry is booming. ECRAs offer
elders placement in senior living facilities. It appears ECRAs are a bargain
since they are free. That is not true because the ECRAs charge an average of $3,500
to the senior living facility for the new resident. This new “selling of seniors” has caused a
frenzy of advisors (telemarketers) calling seniors to place them in the highest
referral fee, “known as a Bounty,”
paying senior living facilities regardless of their condition. ECRAs are known
to “double dip” and sell the same
senior to different senior living facilities every year. This results in
confusion and constant moving for the unsuspecting seniors.
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| A PLACE FOR MOM LARGEST ELDER CARE REFERRAL AGENCY |
The SEATTLE
TIMES reported that the largest ECRA is A PLACE FOR MOM, which has $50 million in annual sales; and it is
expected to double its sales in three years. A PLACE FOR MOM pays their
telemarketers an average $650 for every successful senior living center
placement. There are now over 40,000 licensed assisted living facilities,
15,000 skilled nursing facilities, and countless independent living facilities
in the United States. The ECRAs now provide 25% of all their business; and in
three years, it is expected ECRAs will provide 50% of all senior living
facilities’ sales.
Many ECRAs are good, but many ECRAs often
abuse seniors by simply placing them in bad senior living facilities that pay
the highest bounty. Most of the ECRA telemarketers have no insight into the
senior living facility being referred nor do they have any geriatric needs
training. They simply dial for dollars. One Hawaiian senior just reported that
she was called by A PLACE FOR MOM twenty-eight times in just one month. A PLACE
FOR MOM is headquartered in Washington State and sells from their 18,000
contracted senior living facilities in 45 states employing 450 telemarketers.
Washington State just passed the first
law to regulate this questionable ECRA industry by requiring:
1. Full disclosure of ECRA fees paid by
the senior living facility.
2. ECRAs are required to inspect every
senior living facility where they make placements.
3. Every ECRA is required to have $1
million liability insurance coverage.
AARP reported that the
Internet is a dangerous place to shop for a senior housing facility. You should
do your own research and inspection of the senior living facility in which you
are interested. Don’t forget to check the senior living facility in which you
choose to you to move with the Better
Business Bureau, Department of Health Services, and other non-profit reputable
senior assistance agencies.
Neil Armstrong said: “In
much of society, research means to investigate something you do not understand.
Research is creating new knowledge.” Only you can make the right choice
for your future senior living home by doing your own research.
Note: The next column will be the difference,
costs, and availability of Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, and
Independent Care Facilities.
Copyright
Fairall 2013
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