Memory Care Costs in Citrus County — Why They Run Higher

In this article

1. What Florida requires of a memory care community
2. The four things that move the rate
3. What it costs at our two communities
4. How families pay for memory care
5. When the move is worth pricing out

Memory care usually costs more than assisted living, and the reason is staffing. A community that advertises memory care in Florida has to keep someone awake all night, train every caregiver well beyond the standard, run activities built for cognitive impairment, and secure the building. Those obligations are written into state law, and they are the largest part of the gap between the two rates.

The second difference is the shape of the bill rather than the size of it. Assisted living is priced as a floor that rises as your parent needs more help. Memory care at both of our communities is a set monthly rate, because the higher level of support is already built into it.

What Florida requires of a memory care community

Under Florida Statutes section 429.178, a community that advertises special care for residents with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder has to meet four standards. It must keep an awake staff member on duty at every hour of the day and night. It must offer activities designed specifically for people who are cognitively impaired. It must have a physical environment that keeps residents safe. And it must train its staff to a higher bar.

That last one is the part families rarely see on a tour, and it is worth reading closely. Florida Statutes section 430.5025 requires every assisted living caregiver to complete one hour of dementia training in their first 30 days and three more hours within seven months. In a community that advertises memory care, those three hours come due within three months instead of seven, they extend to staff who simply have regular contact with residents rather than only hands on caregivers, and each caregiver adds four more hours of dementia specific training within six months. Then four hours of continuing education every single year, for as long as they work there.

Add it up and a memory care caregiver carries more than double the training of a standard assisted living caregiver in the first year, and keeps adding to it annually. Training hours cost wages, and wages are most of what you are paying for.

The four things that move the rate

Overnight staffing. Assisted living has staff at night. Memory care has staff who are required to be awake, every night, because someone who wakes at three in the morning and tries to leave needs a person there in that moment, not a call bell.

A secured building. Doors that alarm, a courtyard a resident can use without supervision, and layouts that let someone walk a loop rather than reach a dead end. That is construction and maintenance spent on a smaller number of residents.

Programming built for the diagnosis. Not a modified version of the assisted living calendar. Shorter sessions, familiar routines, and activities that work when short term memory does not.

More caregiver time per resident. Helping someone who has forgotten how to start a task takes longer than reminding someone who has not. That time is the single biggest line in the cost of memory care anywhere.

What it costs at our two communities

We publish a starting figure for every room at both communities, so you can tell whether we are in range before you call.

Notice that memory care carries a set rate while assisted living carries a starting figure. That is deliberate. Assisted living flexes because two residents in identical rooms can need very different amounts of help. Memory care already includes the higher level of support, so the number you see is the number.

It also means the two lines can land closer together than families expect, particularly when a parent in assisted living has been adding services for a year. If your parent is already paying for a great deal of help, ask what the memory care rate would be before you assume the move is a large step up. Our pricing page lists every room at both communities, and our memory care page covers what the day actually looks like.

How families pay for memory care

Start with what does not pay. Medicare does not cover long term care, in assisted living or in memory care. It pays for doctors, hospital stays, prescriptions, and a limited stretch of rehabilitation after a qualifying hospital stay, but not for the daily help that a memory care community provides. Families are often three weeks into planning before anyone tells them that.

What does pay is usually a combination.

• Private income and savings. Social Security, a pension, savings, and often the sale of a home. Most families start here.
• Medicaid. Florida's long term care program can help pay for the care part of a stay for people who meet its medical and financial rules. Both Sugarmill Manor and The Gardens accept Medicaid, in assisted living and in the secured memory care section, which is not true of every community in the county. Our page on assisted living that accepts Medicaid in Citrus County explains how it works here.
• VA Aid and Attendance. A wartime veteran or a surviving spouse who needs help with daily activities may qualify for an added monthly benefit. It is paid to the person rather than to a community, so it can go toward memory care. Applications take months, so start before you need the money.
• Long term care insurance. A policy bought years ago may pay a set amount. Cognitive impairment is one of the standard triggers for benefits, so a dementia diagnosis often qualifies even when your parent still handles most daily tasks.

When the move is worth pricing out

If you are weighing whether your parent is ready, the cost question usually arrives alongside a harder one. Our guide to the signs that assisted living is no longer enough covers what changes the answer, and our comparison of assisted living and memory care lays out the difference in daily life rather than in dollars.

Both of our communities sit in Citrus County: Sugarmill Manor in Homosassa and The Gardens in Crystal River. Both offer memory care in a secured section, and both accept Medicaid.

The fastest way to a real number is to visit the community your parent would actually live in and ask the administrator what a specific plan of care would cost. Come see The Gardens, or call or write us and we will talk it through.

Frequently asked questions

Does memory care cost more than assisted living?

Usually yes. A community that advertises memory care in Florida has to keep an awake staff member on duty at all hours, train every caregiver well past the standard, run activities built for cognitive impairment, and secure the building. Those obligations are set in state law, and staffing is the largest part of the gap.

How much does memory care cost in Citrus County?

We publish a set monthly rate for memory care at both Sugarmill Manor and The Gardens, listed on our pricing page. Be careful with figures from comparison sites: the large national cost surveys do not measure memory care at all, so those numbers are estimates and often differ by thousands of dollars for the same community.

Why is memory care priced as a set rate when assisted living is not?

Assisted living is quoted as a starting figure because two residents in identical rooms can need very different amounts of daily help, so the care part of the bill follows real needs. Memory care already includes the higher level of support, so it is a set monthly rate rather than a floor.

Does Medicare pay for memory care?

No. Medicare does not cover long term care, in assisted living or memory care. It pays for doctors, hospital stays, prescriptions, and a limited stretch of rehabilitation after a qualifying hospital stay, not for the daily help a memory care community provides. Medicaid is the program most families are actually looking for, and both of our communities accept it.

What training does Florida require for memory care staff?

Every assisted living caregiver completes one hour of dementia training in the first 30 days and three more hours within seven months. At a community that advertises memory care, those three hours are due within three months, they extend to staff who have regular contact with residents rather than only hands on caregivers, each caregiver adds four hours of dementia specific training within six months, and everyone adds four hours of continuing education every year after.

Sources

• Florida Statutes section 429.178, special care for persons with Alzheimer's disease or other related disorders
• Florida Statutes section 430.5025, Alzheimer's disease education and training
• Medicare, long term care coverage
• Alzheimer's Association, planning for care costs
• Florida AHCA, Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long Term Care program

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Written by

Cameron Hernando Clark

Community Relations Director

Cameron Hernando Clark is the Community Relations Director for The Manors of Citrus. He writes this family guide to help Citrus County families make sense of assisted living and memory care, drawing on the day to day of running two family owned communities on Florida's Nature Coast.