Reading the Bill
How a monthly statement from a facility is assembled: base rate, care-level surcharges, ancillary charges, and the annual increase the contract allows.
- Reading the Bill Assisted Living Community Fee: What Is Refundable Community fee, move-in fee, security deposit: which one comes back depends on your state and on the date the unit is cleared, not on the label on the invoice.
- Reading the Bill Assisted Living Rate Increase Letter: Notice Days and Limits A rate increase letter starts a clock. Count it against your state's notice rule (30, 45, 60 or 90 days) and the contract clause before the new rate starts.
- Reading the Bill Assisted Living Base Rate: What It Includes and Excludes What an assisted living base rate often leaves out — medication administration, incontinence care, transport — and the tour questions that put it in writing.
- Reading the Bill Assisted Living Points System: How Reassessment Adds Cost A care-level reassessment can add hundreds a month to an assisted living bill, often with no advance notice. Where the contract authorizes it, clause by clause.
- Reading the Bill Skilled Nursing Facility Bill: Reading It Line by Line Three papers cover the same month: the facility statement, the Medicare Summary Notice, the claim. Where each charge belongs, and which ones cannot be there.