Find the right level of care without losing the whole picture.

Check the exact license

• Match the facility’s legal name and address to its AHCA record.
• Read recent inspection reports, statements of deficiencies and legal or emergency orders.
• Confirm that the specific building or care unit—not merely the larger campus—is licensed for the needed care.

Get the full cost in writing

• Request base rent, care-level charges, medication fees, community fees, deposits and second-person charges.
• Ask how and when fees may increase, and what happens to a deposit after a move, transfer or death.
• Do not treat a published “starting price” as the expected monthly total.

Prices in this guide are leads for comparison and must be reconfirmed with the facility.

Confirm care limits

• Describe current needs and likely changes: transfers, insulin, wandering, incontinence, oxygen, behavior and hospice.
• Ask who is physically on site overnight and on weekends—not simply who is “available.”
• Get the discharge, relocation, room-hold and hospital-return policies before admission.

Understand what pays

• Medicare generally does not pay for custodial long-term care.
• Medicare skilled-nursing coverage is short-term and depends on eligibility and other conditions.
• Confirm Medicaid plan participation, long-term-care insurance and VA benefits for the individual and facility.

Test the emergency plan

• Ask exactly what the generator powers and for how long—not merely whether one exists.
• Confirm cooling, medication refrigeration, oxygen support, elevators, evacuation transportation and destination.
• Ask how families receive updates during and after a storm.

An approved plan does not mean every room, appliance or service has backup power.

Review Life Plan contracts

• Identify the contract type, entrance fee, refund formula and ongoing monthly obligations.
• Clarify whether higher levels of care are guaranteed, prioritized or subject to availability.
• Read the OIR filings and examination report; consider independent legal and financial review.