I moved my response to the x-post in Kitchen table.

It is good that you are starting to look now. There are several types of continuing care communities but I will only give you the basics. Some charge a residence fee and then a monthly maintenance. Both fees are called many things so the terminology may not be the same. The residence fee is basically purchase of a space on which you pay rent, maintenance, This fee can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. There may or may not be a separate fee for dining. Some insists that for the first month or so that you must dine in the dining area. Others you may be charged for a set number of meals and you pay extra over that. Part of the selling spiel is that if you do not like the place you can recover part of your money. The clause in many is that the recovery is only after there is a new tenant. Any updates for the new tenant is taken from your fee. One place in Minneapolis I looked at they were refurbishing it for a new person and it had been vacant for two years. If the market is good the time should be much less than that. If the place becomes less desirable it could be longer. Some there is no fee to move in and there is a monthly fee with various add-ons such as dining, use of gym and swimming pool, certain activities, etc. The best ones, may not be more expensive, include every thing in one fee. Both types normally have both independent and assisted living facilities but normally they will be separated so look at both. Assisted Living: There is generally a base fee then you are charged additional for each level of care. You have to check your contract to see what is covered in a continuing care facility. In this state if you require two or more people to assist you must use a skilled nursing home facility. Most use a Hoyer lift but if you are heavy or unable to bend body parts and a one person operates the lift and the other places your body this is considered as needing skilled care. The final chapter: Nursing Home for if you really get sick. Some will allow you to remain in your living quarters or will move you to another area/building. However many do not have a skilled facility only assisted and independent. You would want to live in a community that has activities that allow you to go places rather than in house only activities like bingo, cards, etc. I did not like the continuing care facilities where you have a large upfront cost because I would worry too much about changes in management or bankruptcy of the facility. Both types of continuing care places will have annual increases in charges so what may be affordable now will be less so in 20 years from now. I do suggest that you start looking now so you see what is available and help decide what type of lifestyle you think you will like after retirement. You may even find one and move in before retirement.

Jill302, thank you for that link. It sure looks like the person my DH spoke to was wrong. That makes more sense and makes the choice easier for me. Oakley, BCBS is the provider for the plans I can get that offer some out of network coverage, but it's 30-50% and would apply to everyone I would see at home other than my PCP and in-patient care at one hospital. None of my generic medications would be covered, and for all of that I would be paying hundreds of dollars more each month -- just to not risk being drained or bankrupt by an out of state and out of network medical surprise. I have been covered by BCBS many times, including most recently. I would have stayed with them if they offered individual coverage that would equal my group coverage -- even at the COBRA rates, it would have been a viable option. The plans they do offer individuals don't work for me.

Hi Annegriet, It seems that you asked more than one question. I will paraphrase how I understood it and see if you meant this. 1. The question of pre-existing condition and being denied further coverage. Others have responded to this question. Insurance companies can audit your notes? I do not know the answer nor to what degree an insurance company may “audit” your “notes.” I would think an insurer would want to know what was charged and if you attended such an appointment; that is, did you obtain services that you or your provider submitted a claim for. I think that it would be unethical and unreasonable for any insurer to insist on knowing the details of your conversations with a therapist. That’s very private. On the other hand, if a therapist gives a diagnosis (whether accurate or not), that may be in the purview of an insurer to know. I have no idea about this. If someone seeks counseling for a say stressful life situation or wants supportive counseling, I don’t see how that would have any business being shared in detail with your insurance company. It is very common for people to seek counseling when they are undergoing stressful situations. I would like to think that there are many competent therapists, Just about anybody would be good or sufficient. Life experience as well as having various roommates that were or became psychotherapists convinces me otherwise. At the same time, I think there are a lot of people on the consumer end who would not be aware of a therapist shortcomings. 3. Employment discrimination? Perhaps others can respond to this. On the surface, I don’t know how any employer would necessarily be informed about your need for counseling. I don’t believe it would be a requirement to reveal that say a person went to counseling because of difficulty with a relative or offspring or spouse for example. And I don’t see how a counselor’s notes would be available to any prospective employer. All of this of course assumes that the person receiving services is not an ax murderer that has been apprehended and charged in addition to photos on the front page. Psychological counseling is very common and acceptable by most normal, intelligent people within a somewhat sophisticated culture such as the US and Canada. True there may be cults or clandestine pockets of the weird (SCOTUS members?), but you’re not likely to seek gainful employment with any of these types (certain craft supplier’s perhaps found to have stollen ancient artifacts) are you? ~~~~~ I think you’re good, AnnG. I imagine that you can feel confident in a very good measure of privacy as you seek help with life’s stresses and challenges. I have known people who have vowed never to as much as date anyone who had never been in therapy. Seems reasonable to me ;-) but yeah, that was uttered during the ‘70s. ‘Scuse typos cuz I am tired and have crunchy body syndrome. Also, English is not my first language.