There are many places across the country with staged levels of care offered. I’m in the Chicago suburbs, where based on the facility it can cost $3500-5000/mo per person for independent living (essentially your own apartment/townhome space where support services are available very quickly) $4000-10,000/mo for assisted living (someone is checking on you multiple times a day and potentially delivering meals/helping with meds) or $9000-16,000+/mo for nursing care (full care.)

The devil is in the details though. I know many facilities have different practices, but it’s not uncommon for a facility to require proof that you already have 2 years worth of payments on hand before letting you move in. Also some will just let you sign over your property/home as security.

I knew a man a few years ago that had moved with his mother to an independent living where he cared for her. He was there over 30 years, having “purchased” the unit for $275,000 and paid around $3000 mo in maintenance fees. She had passed away at some point, he continued to live there. When he sustained a fall and hit his head, they moved him into the nursing unit as it appeared he would pass soon. They cleaned out his home and sold it, “securing” the proceeds to pay for his care. He ended up recovering more than anyone expected, at which point he was told he only had enough money for about 18 months of care, then he would be moved to a Medicaid room where he would have to share his room. A friend helped him find a less expensive place, but with his belongings sold he had to buy furniture. He passed alone a couple years later. Through all of this he never questioned whether or not any of this was right or wrong, just shrugged it off and accepted that this is the way things happen.