Georgia could soon be one of the first states protecting people seeking senior living community info

Credit: Georgia Senior Living Association

Selecting an appropriate senior living option for a loved one can be an emotional and somewhat confusing process, especially when it comes to referral agencies, according to the nonprofit Georgia Senior Living Association, which supports the senior living industry through education, advocacy and partnerships. 

Families often believe they are contacting an independent adviser when they, or their friends and relatives, reach out to senior living referral agencies for information. They’re often not told how their personal information is shared and that they are only being shown communities that pay to be part of a network. 

Now on Gov. Brian Kemp's desk to sign, Senate Bill 439 establishes standards that help seniors and their families who are looking for information about senior living understand who they are working with, what options are being presented, and when financial interests are involved. The bill does not legislate the outcome of any lawsuit, nor does it create a contract for consumers, CEO Catie Ramp said. 

Senior living providers, including members of the Georgia Senior Living Association, testified Feb. 9 during a Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing about abusive practices they experienced from referral agencies.  

Recently, the family of an Athens man who spent three years as part of a senior living community received a bill from a referral agency to pay a contract fee.

"This is an active communal social lifestyle and he was part of the community," Ramp said. "The staff really engages in their lives when they're residents with us and, when they pass away, we're almost always invited into their celebration stories and so his obituary thanked the community that he was living in and within one month they received a bill."  

Situations also arise where someone other than the senior or their legal representative, often an out-of-state family member, submits an online inquiry on a loved one’s behalf and unknowingly initiates a contractual, referral relationship. 

Operators at a senior living community in East Cobb County were embarrassed last October when they had to pay a referral fee for someone referred from his hospice company, not a referral agent who receives money for sending people to specific communities. 

"But when the family arrived to the community, they already had all of his information because his well-meaning sister in Colorado went online and filled out the information with her brother's name and sent it and submitted it," Ramp said. 

If a resident ultimately moves into any community that contracts with that agency, the agency receives a fee, regardless of whether they meaningfully contributed to the decision or not. Those fees typically range from 75% to more than 115% of one month’s rent, care level, and services, according to the GSLA. 

Most consumers do not understand this structure until after move-in, if they learn it at all, she said. 

Having grown up in a generation that understood skilled nursing as the only option for senior care, Ramp said she learned that's no longer the case. 

"We now have communities that are living and thriving," Ramp said. "We have activities and crafts. And it's not just bingo, although bingo is a very important part of the senior living lifestyle."

Some folks still live on their own and the community is regulated just like an apartment would be, Ramp said. Assisted living communities and personal care homes support folks who need a little bit of assistance with activities of daily living like bathing, dressing and managing medication. Memory care communities assist people dealing with different forms of dementia, Ramp said. 

Census data show the population of adults 65 and over will grow by more than 50% by the year 2030, and there will be more people nationwide over the age of 65 than there are under the age 18 by 2035. 

"So, we know that this industry is growing and we know that we as a regulated body have a responsibility to take care of our senior population in Georgia well," Ramp said. 

She said SB 439 will help bring clarity to families that are seeking guidance, bring clarity to providers that want to compete fairly and transparently, and bring integrity to the industry that cares for Georgia's elders.