Assisted Living Facilities in Nebraska

A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities in Nebraska

What they're called

Official name: Assisted Living Facilities

Common name: Assisted living facilities

To compare assisted living to board and care, skilled nursing, and other long-term residential care communities, see Residential Care Options: How to Decide.

What they offer

• Individual or shared (up to four persons) living units (from single rooms to multiroom apartments), often with cooking facilities
• All meals, usually in a common dining area
• Noncomplex nursing services
• Monitoring of and assistance with medications; administration of medications if needed and agreed by resident
• Personal care services, including help with one or more activities of daily living (ADLs) such as eating, dressing, bathing
• Social and exercise activities

Note: Some facilities also offer respite care and other special services.

What they cost

Median monthly fees: $2,750 (higher for residents requiring memory care')

State of Nebraska requirements

• Residents may engage outside agencies or personnel to provide extra care or services.
• Assessment of resident's needs and a written service agreement between facility and resident outlining the services to be provided to meet the resident's needs.
• Upon admission and at least annually thereafter, resident must provide facility with a list of drugs and medical devices being used by the resident, including dosage and use.
• Shared bathrooms and bathing facilities are permitted in existing facilities.

State of Nebraska oversight

The Nebraska state Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Public Health, Licensure Unit licenses and regulates assisted living facilities.

How to resolve problems or offer feedback

• Contact the Nebraska long-term care ombudsman for the region where you live, or call the state office toll-free at 800-942-7830. This is a free service to help residents informally resolve problems with a facility.
• File a complaint online with the Department of Health and Human Services or by phone at 402-471-0316.
• Rate and review assisted living facilities.

How to pay for assisted living in Nebraska

• Most assisted living is paid for privately by the resident and/or his or her family.
• For eligible low-income residents, Nebraska's Medicaid program pays part of the cost of services provided by participating facilities.
• Low-income veterans or surviving spouses of veterans may be eligible for Aid and Attendance or other payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which can help pay for assisted living.
• Some assisted living facilities offer sliding scale fees, making a higher level of care available to families that might not otherwise be able to afford it. Be sure to ask -- or ask a geriatric care manager in the area if he or she knows which facilities offer sliding scale fees.

Help finding and choosing a facility

• Hire a geriatric care manager (most have extensive local knowledge about assisted living facilities in a particular geographic area, including space availability, resident needs assessments, sliding scale fees, and resident satisfaction). To find a geriatric care manager, see Caring.com's Senior Living Directory.
• For details about assisted living facilities in each of the 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, see A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities.