Wasilla seniors hit with fee hikes

WASILLA — Trying to get revenue more consistent with cost, Knik Manor is raising the price charged assisted living residents, a move that may send those on fixed incomes packing.

The 12-bed housing facility is operated by Wasilla Area Seniors Inc. The non-profit corporation has gone through reorganization over the past year in an effort to close a financial deficit.

Knik Manor provides its nine current residents with 24-hour care plus three meals per day. Prior to this year, the residents were paying about $2 for each meal, including the preparation and service of the food, WASI Executive Director Sondra Kaplan said.

“You can’t buy a meal for $2, let alone hire the cook, the dishwasher and the maintenance to keep it up,” Kaplan said.

To bring the program into the black, Kaplan sent a letter informing residents the price per meal will jump to more than $5 starting this year. The residents who were paying about $180 a month in board expenses now pay more than $540. The total price of living in Knik Manor is now $5,200 a month.

Many of the residents of Knik Manor financially qualify for Medicaid in addition to Medicare. Instead of getting their benefits directly, seniors on Medicaid who have a chronic illness can opt to have their benefits go directly to the assisted living home. This program, called Medicaid Choice Wavier, is supposed to cover various services like assisted living and a care coordinator who meets with the senior once a month. After all the services are paid for, choice waiver usually leaves seniors with $100 a month in disposable income.

With the rate increase at Knik Manor, the residents on choice waiver stand to pay $1,200 out of their own pocket each month. Many of the seniors on strictly structured incomes say this is simply beyond their reach.

“Choice wavier is supposed to leave you with $100 a month,” said Knik Manor resident Barb Rice. “We’re on choice waiver because we don’t have any money.”

Kaplan is sympathetic, but said the increase is unavoidable. If a homeowner’s electricity rates go up, you have to make adjustments to the budget or shut off the electricity. The cost of food and preparation have been increasing constantly, she said, but the rate has not changed in more than three years.

The change may seem large, Kaplan said, but legally she could charge even more. The state mandates that Knik Manor is allowed to charge up to $26.16 per day for the residents on choice waiver. With the increase, the rate is up to $17.50.

Kaplan said she has gone over each individual’s finances and said even with the increase most are left with more than $100 at the end of the month. Additionally, she has found other areas where they qualify for subsidies that would bring their rent down. It is the job of the care coordinator, she said, to help the seniors go after these opportunities. She blames a lack of experience on the part of the care coordinators to know all the benefits the seniors are eligible for.

Alexandria Miles, the care coordinator for Rice and three other choice wavier recipients at Knik Manor, is a 30-year veteran of social work and has a master’s degree in the field. She has worked in Alaska for more than two years and said she has tried to get residents the additional subsidies. All of them qualify, Miles said, but they are all between 200 and 400 people down on the waiting list.

Instead, Miles said, she is trying to transfer her clients to Primrose Retirement Community.

The assisted living section of Primrose provides essentially the same services as Knik Manor, but its payment structures for residents on choice wavier is markedly different. Kristen Woods, director of the Wasilla Primrose, said there is no flat fee for residents on choice waiver. Instead, each resident is charged whatever benefits they receive less $100 each month. This $100 goes to personal items like toiletries and holiday gifts, but all the essential medical and living needs are taken care of for the resident.

Kaplan said she is not worried Primrose will attract some of her residents after the rate increase at Knik Manor. The payment schedule at Knik Manor typically leaves residents with more than $100, and WASI simply cannot afford giving them a free ride any more, she said.

“I don’t want to put my seniors at risk, but I don’t want to put everyone at risk and shut the facility down,” Kaplan said.

The seniors, on the other hand, seem to disagree. After talking with her four clients at Knik Manor, Miles said all four have begun the application process for moving into Primrose.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.