Before a product actually hits the market, it is difficult to predict just how successful or unsuccessful it might become. The MEDCottage, however, a modular “medical” home designed with special equipment and features to assist the elderly, is scheduled to roll off the assembly line as early as January, 2011, and it has people shouting both “yea” and “nay.”
Those in favor of the MEDCottage applaud the fact that this nearly 300-square-foot temporary dwelling could enable many elderly folks otherwise headed towards assisted living or nursing homes to opt out and live in the back yards of their children or relatives instead.
Attractively decorated, fully furnished, and medically equipped, these homes feature a system that can detect if the occupant has fallen and another one that can dispense medications as well as alert care givers if the patient does not take the medicine out of the system. Pressurized ventilation similar to that found in intensive care units of hospitals is another feature. There are others, and more features are scheduled to come.
N2Care, a Virginia based company formed in 2008, is owned and operated by a Salem minister, the Rev. Kenneth Dupin, and driven by a team consisting of an engineer from Virginia Tech, the CEO of a modular home manufacturing company, and experts in the field of hospice and home health care.
The impressive progress of the MEDCottage already has the Virginia state government rewriting zoning laws. As of July 1, 2010, structures like the MEDCottage can legally be placed in the back yards of otherwise single-family dwellings and in subdivisions and neighborhoods that ban POD’s and storage buildings. “There goes the neighborhood!” shout a host of people in posh communities securely entrenched in rigid by-laws and restrictions intended to keep “eyesores” such as this out.
With a generation of Baby Boomers marching towards retirement, however, predictions cite that the number of people needing Long Term Care is likely to double in ten years. In a country filled with creative entrepreneurs, it is no surprise that options other than assisted living, nursing homes, and even the traditional in-home care are being considered. Kudos to Mr. Dupin for a truly ingenious idea.
MEDCottages are scheduled to retail for between $65,000 and $75,000, according to N2Care. Plans also include making the homes available for lease at about $1,500 to $2,000 a month. No doubt the prices will fall considerably once time allows for these homes to have been previously occupied.
In-home care, a benefit already provided by Long Term Care Insurance, could be extended in a specially equipped dwelling such as the MEDCottage, sparing the elderly from having to go into assisted living facilities or nursing homes sooner than they otherwise might have. This advantage is, of course, the one that is bringing in the most enthusiasm.
As the saying goes, there’s no place like home, and until only a few months ago, there was no place like the MEDCottage. It may be time to pay a visit once these homes move into the neighborhood. At LTC Tree we stay on top of any cutting edge trends in the Long Term Care Insurance industry and will be able to offer clients features like this if the companies come out with the benefit down the road. For more info on current plans, please take a moment to simply fill in this form.
