Business Idea - Independent and Assisted Living

[mountainannie]

The Residence Senior Living

they have opened one in puerto rico.. with altzheimer;s care.. Fees from 2 to 4 thousand a month which is comparable to the US prices

 

[Linda Stapleton]

A shame I didn't see this before. I have a Canadian friend living down here who has years of experience and is qualified in caring for and developing care programmes for people in this kind of situation. If anyone were to get this off the ground I think it would be possible to find professionals who could handle this aspect, IF their qualifications were accepted and recognised by the powers that be.

 

[Linda Stapleton]

Sorry, I was replying to this: We had a similar discussion not too long ago after a friend of ours had a stroke. He wanted to stay in the DR but the lack of any decent facilities that could give him the required care eliminated that option for him. He could of had around the clock nursing care in a nice apartment, for cheaper than anything in the U.S., but he desperately needed professionally qualified rehab, which effectively eliminated the DR.

 

[Manzana]

Of course changes to tourist card/visa rules supposedly being implimented would make this more complicated.

The larger the expat retiree population, the more viable this would become. People who already have chosen to retire in the DR and eventually require assisted living would be a better market. Trying to market it to people who were not interested in living in the DR before they required care would be a pretty tough sell.

 

[ctrob]

The larger the expat retiree population, the more viable this would become. People who already have chosen to retire in the DR and eventually require assisted living would be a better market. .

These two sentences really say it all. In my opinion this is where one would start.

Start small, and market to existing expats getting up in years and who want to stay. You could then build on your success.

 

[Chirimoya]

Somebody already had that idea:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dDY89LYxK0w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Seriously though, when I've visited places like Villa Trina in Moca, quiet and high up in the mountains, it's struck me as an ideal place for a rest/convalescent/retirement home.

 

[diosabella]

HI Chellow, my husband and I just moved to DR starting Jan 2012, we started in Puerto Plata, to do an assisted living but lack support, we had 4 homes in NV. It seemed like a good idea. we want to start n see how it goes,
DR business model is very different than the US, WE are just being careful we are giving ourselves 1 year to look around, so we moved to Bavaro Punta Cana, and we love it here, We are looking to start a business, What kind of Business? do you know of a business group that meets in DR for Americans or Europeans, we are still in our late 30's.
Who Do we talk to?, any ideas about a Western Union Franchise? or Payday loan Business how to go about opening one.
thanks you.

 

[Criss Colon]

The "American Chamber of Commerce" meets in Santo Domingo,can't say if any other sites.
Cris Colon
Please HURRY, I'm getting "Old",."Fast"!

 

[mido]

I have some people who would like to invest in an "Assisted Living Project", please PM me!

 

[LTSteve]

Your idea is possible but you must have deep pockets to pull this off. You would need to do a feasibility study and hire an architetch/planning specialist to not only calculate your costs to get up and running but also your long term fixed costs, such as. electricity, labor, food service, insurance, general maintenance, etc.... I would guestimate that you would need to invest, as least, $750,000 USD to buy an existing building, re-purpose it and convert it to fit the needs of your clientele. Then you would need to furnish and buy necessary supplies and market it to people who are interested. I would stick to an Independent Living Facility. Other than that you will need to have a nursing staff and around the clock care if necessary. I would gear the facility towards ex-pats from Europe and North America and possibly some wealthy Dominicans. Again, can money be made. I think so, but a facility like this is very expensive to get off the ground and survive for a year or two. If you do not have any experience in this field I would stay far away from this idea.

LTSteve

 

[keepcoming]

I assume you mean that you are from Nevada (NV). The payday loan idea is better geared to the US and obviously NV. Here in the DR that type of business involves how should I say some shady types. Any business the deals with giving out cash (Western Union,) etc.. in my opinion leaves you vulnerable to many unwanted outcomes, robbery, etc... Not worth it. The Assisted Living here well agree with LTSteve it would need to be geared towards the financially well off ex-pats. The problem is once they are beyond the Assisted Living level of care then where do they go. In the US those that can no longer function at a Assisted Living of care level then go on to a SNF, skilled nursing facility. In NV did you have Assisted Living or Group Homes?

 

[mountainannie]

But Medicare, nor medicaid will reach beyond the USA's borders as yet. The Mexican Govt was trying to work out a plan for USA medicare to pay in Mexico, but last I read that hadn't been approved as yet.
Der Fish

Medicare is simply NEVER going to be extended beyond the US borders. The few hundred thousand folks who live in Mexico are not enough of a lobby,

We need to be VERY clear about this as US citizens think of moving here....There will be NO Medicare, NO Medicaid here. There is only one insurance policy that covers expenses til death and that must be purchased BEFORE one is 65 years old.

Which is when lots of folks just begin to think about retirement.. if they have that privilige at all.

.even though we have the option of continuing Medicare.. which already means a few hundred bucks a month out of pocket if you have Medicare Advantage (I am not participating so those of you who are will have to fill me in on how much but one senior said it was at least $300 for him per month. Out of pocket. This may have been with all the pharmacy co pays _ we would need a place to return to for treatment, family to care for us while we are there.

Puerto Rico does have Medicare coverage but my sister in law died there a few years ago and found that there was a very long wait for the Medicare approved physicians to come to see her since they had to travel around the entire island.

The US health care system is so broken, so in the control of the allopathic, surgical medical hospital big pharma... it is hard for Europeans to understand. Indeed it is hard for Americans to understand why we still spend the majority of our medical costs in the last year of life.. and why it was that up to recently two thirds of the bankruptcies in the States were for medical expenses.

The only way this sort of thing would work is if you got some philanthropiic guys.. the Erikson corporation.. which I believe was orginally Methodist, or the Kendall Corp which was orginally Quaker..

I think lots and lots of the places in Florida are going to be in trouble when my baby boom generation hits because..

well, lots of them you have to buy into which means they are ONLY for the top 20%

There are so few of us Expats here who will NOT be starting another family.. and Domnicans treasure their elders.

I thought about it a lot and it seemed to me that if I had someone who could live in.. should I have the fortune to live to be old and frail.. then my family would not worry.

Now I have a cleaner, a part time administrative assistant who helps with everything from paperwork to tailoring, a computer store that sends over one of the sons lickity split whenever I have problem, the delivery guys from the grocery store who carry the bags up three flights, the pharmacy which delivers, a plumber who works for very little keeping the old place going, and a Haitian guy who does everything else in the place.

I cannot imagine that I could dupblicate the services that I have at ANY of the high end places in the States.

But there certainly is going to be a market for retirement style housing of sorts for the folks who are going to get only Social Security.. say around 35k per annum.., since most of my generation has not saved and does not have a pension plan.

Lots of seniors in the north, particularly, are going to be hurting with the costs of heating and high tax bills and

well

everyone that I know who is coming up on retirement age is pretty scared.. either for themselves or the children or grandchildren

 

[mountainannie]

urban village

Growing Older in an Urban Village - NYTimes.com

Something like this might work well for the expat community here except that there are very few of us..

I found the folks at DR1 and my neighbors and my friends in Las Terrenas all worked as a compassionate community for me when I was ill. But for LT, in particular.. and I would imagine this goes for lots of the North Coast as well... the only really good medical facilites are here in the Capital. And if you arrive in most Domnican hospitals wITHout Family.. you really do not get nursing service.

So something that could refer people to competent help, an organization that would be in touch with relatives who were abroad, a group that had access to skilled, bonded, bilingual nurses .. something that would be in place for an emergency.

Friends and I thought of doing this sort of business in Asheville, where the elder population is 20% since it is a retirement destination.

 

[keepcoming]

You can hardly get Medicare to pay for care in the US let alone out of the country. The Medicare Replacements (Medicare Advantage) depending on which you go with are in line cost wise like Medicare. They have copays, etc...which depending on the amount your hospitalized can pretty much equal Medicare's Part A deductible which by the way goes up yearly. If I am correct it is $1184 for 2013. RX plans are another story. I know many who buy travel insurance when coming here but travel insurance can be tricky. Some (not all) will go out of their way to prove it was a pre-x condition you had prior to travel so they do not want to pay. And some have pages and pages of disclaimers. I am not aware of Medicare paying for Assisted Living so anyone wanting to start one here would have to find cash paying people. Medicare pays for a skilled nursing facility but only for so long. 20 full covered days and then 80 days with a co-insurance. Most long term residents use their life savings and depending on their financial situation can possibly be eligible for a state Medicaid program to cover expenses. Here in the DR it would be all cash paying. But again my question would be when they no longer are able to function at Assisted Living level of care then where do they go? Home? They likely have spent most of their savings here in the Assisted Living. So being far away from home may not make sense for most.

 

[mido]

Your idea is possible but you must have deep pockets to pull this off. You would need to do a feasibility study and hire an architetch/planning specialist to not only calculate your costs to get up and running but also your long term fixed costs, such as. electricity, labor, food service, insurance, general maintenance, etc.... I would guestimate that you would need to invest, as least, $750,000 USD to buy an existing building, re-purpose it and convert it to fit the needs of your clientele. Then you would need to furnish and buy necessary supplies and market it to people who are interested. I would stick to an Independent Living Facility. Other than that you will need to have a nursing staff and around the clock care if necessary. I would gear the facility towards ex-pats from Europe and North America and possibly some wealthy Dominicans. Again, can money be made. I think so, but a facility like this is very expensive to get off the ground and survive for a year or two. If you do not have any experience in this field I would stay far away from this idea.

LTSteve

Thanks for your input, these guys already run a place in New York, so I assume they know what they are doing.

 

[jasonwebb]

Chellow , I think by now you would have got your reply , this is the real charm of these social sites that they provide a great platform for people to discuss and to be heard .

 

[mountainannie]

No

You can hardly get Medicare to pay for care in the US let alone out of the country. The Medicare Replacements (Medicare Advantage) depending on which you go with are in line cost wise like Medicare. They have copays, etc...which depending on the amount your hospitalized can pretty much equal Medicare's Part A deductible which by the way goes up yearly. If I am correct it is $1184 for 2013. RX plans are another story. I know many who buy travel insurance when coming here but travel insurance can be tricky. Some (not all) will go out of their way to prove it was a pre-x condition you had prior to travel so they do not want to pay. And some have pages and pages of disclaimers. I am not aware of Medicare paying for Assisted Living so anyone wanting to start one here would have to find cash paying people. Medicare pays for a skilled nursing facility but only for so long. 20 full covered days and then 80 days with a co-insurance. Most long term residents use their life savings and depending on their financial situation can possibly be eligible for a state Medicaid program to cover expenses. Here in the DR it would be all cash paying. But again my question would be when they no longer are able to function at Assisted Living level of care then where do they go? Home? They likely have spent most of their savings here in the Assisted Living. So being far away from home may not make sense for most.

No you would have to hook it up with hospice and conscious dying.. All of the Kendall homes have that.. where the skilled nursing care is right next to assisted living. There is only palliative elder care..

My insurance agent here was very cool when I observed that 200k that I have for the rest of my life medical expenses does not seem like much.. and he said

look, if you spend anywhere near that amount here, then you are dying and the most that we can do is to keep you comfortable/

I think that is what most of us are looking for by the time we hit 65.. I mean, we have HAD a good run. Certainly those of us who have the good fortune to have ended up here have had a good run.

So, it would have to be clear that it was a continuing care community.

The Catholics run a few of them here. They are considered very good and quite expensive by local standards at about one thousand US per month.

For two thousand here.. well.. goodness.. do we not have all these old wearing out resorts.?

we could do golden girls to the max

 

[dv8]

i don't know, maybe i see things differently, coming from europe but what about cash only place? as MA said, 1k dollars would buy you a decent living already... what about a place where you pay in cash, out of your pension or capital from selling property overseas. in return you get to live in one of those old resorts, renovated and revamped, of course. like all inclusive hotel but 365 days a year. with a doctor or two working exclusively on site, trained nurses for those less able or seriously sick.
facilities already exist, like a poll or a gym, they'd need to be readjusted for the elderly, of course. one wing/building/floor could be kept as a hotel for visitors at similar rates to existing AI.

how much would you have to pay for a facility like this back in the states, UK or germany, if you needed to fork out your own cash?

 

[keepcoming]

Facilities in the US can be extremely expensive, just the base price. When you add on the extras some charge for helping with medications, laundry, ect..they can be out of reach for some. Some can run well over $2500+ a month. Of course they all differ in what they offer but the better ones again are expensive. It is a interesting idea though.

 

[mountainannie]

you do not get much for two thousand five hundred..

the top of the line Kendall homes run about five thousand for a couple but a single would have to pay about three thousand a month
AFTER they PURCHASED the condo unit

many of the places have buy backs.. as in your estate will get a high percentage of your buy in fee

but, since there are plenty of places here that are built already.. with facilites.. that would not need to be purchased... just like spending all the time at an all inclusive except that one would assume that it would not be so crowded.. that there would be staff and trained elder counselers.

I think it is a great idea if someone can pair up with an organization like DREAM or something so that the elders can volunteer.

Do not know about Europeans as much but Americans are nuts for volunteering.. at the library, at the schooll, somewhere..

It would be great for this country as well, to import more elders.

And from sixty three or so to eighty five can be really useful and productive years if you are healthy