Paying for Senior Care: What Families Need to Know
June 17, 2025
Understanding how to pay for senior care can feel overwhelming. Fieldstone Communities offer different levels of care—independent living, assisted living, and memory care—and each comes with its own costs and coverage options. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect, and how families typically handle the financial side of senior living.
Independent living
Independent living communities are designed for seniors who are active and self-sufficient but want a maintenance-free lifestyle with access to amenities like dining, activities, and housekeeping. Since medical care is not included, this type of living is generally not covered by insurance.
How families pay: Most often, independent living is paid for privately through retirement income, pensions, savings, or proceeds from selling a home. Because it’s a lifestyle choice rather than a medical need, insurance rarely plays a role here.
Assisted living
Assisted living provides help with daily tasks like bathing, dressing, medication management, and meals. It strikes a balance between independence and support.
How families pay: Assisted living is usually paid for out-of-pocket, through savings, or with the help of long-term care insurance. Some states offer Medicaid waivers that may help with costs, but these vary and often have waiting lists.
Memory care
Memory care is specialized assisted living for residents with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. These communities are designed for safety and structured support, with trained staff on-site around the clock.
How families pay: As with assisted living, memory care is usually paid for privately or through long-term care insurance. Some families also tap into veterans’ benefits, life insurance policies, or bridge loans during the transition period.
Fieldstone of Puyallup is very transparent with pricing.
“All the people who take tours receive a packet of information about the base pricing and any additional costs and what that process entails,” said Talia Chipman, Community Relations Director at Fieldstone of Puyallup.
“That helps families be confident about the cost of care,” she said. “We don’t have fluctuating care costs every month, and always have care conferences to help people understand what any additional costs may be and why it may be necessary.”
“We respect the fact that everyone is on a fixed income, and our company is very conscious about those costs. With our continence package, for example, all those prices are built in—we aren’t going to be nickel and diming people for supplies.”
What about Medicare and private insurance?
Though assisted living and memory care services and housing costs are not covered under Medicare, certain medical needs such as prescriptions, hospitalization, or physician visits may be covered under select supplemental plans.
Potential residents who have long-term care insurance should also check whether their policy covers any part of their expenses.
“The more you know about the details of your LTC policy, the better” Chipman said. “You’ll want to have a good understanding of what activities of daily living (ADLs) would trigger the payment of those policies.”
There can also be elimination periods, usually 90 days, that may reset as you move between different levels of care.
As you explore senior living options, understanding the levels of care and how they’re funded is key to making informed decisions. Each Fieldstone Community is unique—some offer independent and/or assisted living, others offer memory care, and some offer all three levels of care.
Fieldstone of Puyallup always tries to go above and beyond to make sure residents are supported in every aspect of their daily life. Take the new Medical Director of Behavioral Health for example. He’s a nationally recognized, board-certified psychiatrist and author who has treated more than 20,000 dementia patients over his 40-year career. This partnership will ensure residents have 24/7 access to behavioral support and care for complex dementia-related behavior.
We’re here to help you navigate your choices and understand what fits both your loved one’s needs and your budget.