Learn more about in-home care options for your loved ones

Given the choice, most of us want to stay in our homes. Sometimes, people need help to remain at home. That's where Always Best Care Senior Services comes in.

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TESTIMONIALS

“Always Best Care comes in to help my dad a shower at night. When the guy came out to interview, he was really good and helpful, but it was just hard to find someone to help with dad been a little bit bigger and heavier. They like the person that they had come out a couple of times. The caregiver is good.”

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 In-Home Care Glencoe, MN

How does In-home Senior Care in Glencoe, MN work?

Home is where the heart is. While that saying can sound a tad cliche, it's especially true for many seniors living in America. When given a choice, older adults most often prefer to grow older at home. An AARP study found that three out of four adults over the age of 50 want to stay in their homes and communities as they age. When you begin to think about why, it makes sense. Home offers a sense of security, comfort, and familiarity.

The truth is, as we age, we begin to rely on others for help. When a family is too busy or lives too far away to fulfill this role, in-home senior care is often the best solution. Home care services allow seniors to enjoy personal independence while also receiving trustworthy assistance from a trained caregiver.

At Always Best Care, we offer a comprehensive range of home care services to help seniors stay healthy while they get the help they need to remain independent. As your senior loved one ages, giving them the gift of senior care is one of the best ways to show your love, even if you live far away.

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 Senior Care Glencoe, MN

Aging in Place: The Preferred Choice for Most Seniors

While it's true that some seniors have complicated medical needs that prevent them from staying at home, aging in place is often the best arrangement for seniors and their families. With a trusted caregiver, seniors have the opportunity to live with a sense of dignity and do so as they see fit.

In-home care makes it possible for millions of seniors to age in place every year. Rather than moving to a unfamiliar assisted living community, seniors have the chance to stay at home where they feel the happiest and most comfortable.

Here are just a few of the reasons why older men and women prefer to age at home:

Comfort
Comfort

How much does a senior's home truly mean to them? A study published by the American Society on Aging found that more than half of seniors say their home's emotional value means more than how much their home is worth in monetary value. It stands to reason, that a senior's home is where they want to grow old. With the help of elderly care in Glencoe, MN, seniors don't have to age in a sterilized care facility. Instead, they can age gracefully in the place they want to be most: their home. In contrast, seniors who move to a long-term care facility must adapt to new environments, new people, and new systems that the facility implements. At this stage in life, this kind of drastic change can be more harmful than helpful.

Healthy Living
Healthy Living

Institutional care facilities like nursing homes often put large groups of people together to live in one location. On any given day, dozens of staff members and caregivers run in and out of these facilities. Being around so many new people in a relatively small living environment can be dangerous for a seniors' health and wellbeing. When you consider that thousands of seniors passed away in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, opting for in-home care is often a safer, healthier choice for seniors. Aging in place has been shown to improve seniors' quality of life, which helps boost physical health and also helps insulate them from viral and bacterial risks found in elderly living facilities.

Independence
Independence

For many seniors, the ability to live independently with assistance from a caregiver is a priceless option. With in-home care, seniors experience a higher level of independence and freedom - much more so than in other settings like an assisted living community. When a senior has the chance to age in place, they get to live life on their own terms, inside the house that they helped make into a home. More independence means more control over their personal lives, too, which leads to increased levels of fulfillment, happiness, and personal gratification. Over time, these positive feelings can manifest into a healthier, longer life.

Cost and Convenience
Cost and Convenience

More independence, a healthier life, and increased comfort are only a few benefits of aging in place. You have to take into consideration the role of cost and convenience. Simply put, it's usually easier to help seniors age in place than it is to move them into an institutional care facility. In-home care services from Always Best Care, for instance, can be less expensive than long-term solutions, which can cost upwards of six figures per year. To make matters worse, many residential care facilities are reluctant to accept long-term care insurance and other types of payment assistance.

With Always Best Care's home care services, seniors and their families have a greater level of control over their care plans. In-home care in Glencoe, MN gives seniors the chance to form a bond with a trusted caregiver and also receive unmatched care that is catered to their needs. In long-term care facilities, seniors and their loved ones have much less control over their care plan and have less of a say in who provides their care.

Empowers Seniors

Affordable Care Plans

In-home care is a valuable resource that empowers seniors to age in place on their own terms. However, a big concern for many families and their loved ones is how much in-home care costs. If you're worried that in-home care is too expensive, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that it is one of the most affordable senior care arrangements available.

Typically, hiring an Always Best Care in-home caregiver for a few hours a week is more affordable than sending your loved one to a long-term care facility. This is true even for seniors with more complex care needs.

At Always Best Care, we will work closely with you and your family to develop a Care Plan that not only meets your care needs, but your budget requirements, too. Once we discover the level of care that you or your senior need, we develop an in-home care plan that you can afford.

In addition to our flexible care options, families should also consider the following resources to help offset potential home care costs:

Veteran's Benefits
Veteran's Benefits

Attendance and aid benefits through military service can cover a portion of the costs associated with in-home care for veterans and their spouses.

Long-Term Care Insurance
Long-Term Care Insurance

Many senior care services like in-home care are included in long-term care insurance options. Research different long-term care solutions to find a plan that provides coverage for senior care.

Private Insurance
Private Insurance

Home care can be included as part of a senior's private insurance plan. Read over your loved one's insurance policy carefully or speak with their insurance provider to determine if in-home care is covered.

Life Insurance
Life Insurance

Depending on the life insurance plan, you may be able to apply your policy toward long-term care. You may be able to use long-term-care coverage to help pay for in-home elderly care.


Respite Care Glencoe, MN

During your Care Plan consultation with Always Best Care, your Care Coordinator will speak with you about in-home care costs and what options there may be to help meet your budget needs.

Compassionate Care. Trusted Caregivers

When you or your senior loved one needs assistance managing daily tasks at home, finding a qualified caregiver can be challenging. It takes a special kind of person to provide reliable care for your senior loved one. However, a caregiver's role involves more than meal preparation and medication reminders. Many seniors rely on their caregivers for companionship, too.

Our companion care services give seniors the chance to socialize in a safe environment and engage in activities at home. These important efforts boost morale and provide much-needed relief from repetitive daily routines. A one-on-one, engaging conversation can sharpen seniors' minds and give them something in which to be excited.

At Always Best Care, we only hire care providers that we would trust to care for our own loved ones. Our senior caregivers in Glencoe,MN understand how important it is to listen and communicate with their seniors. A seemingly small interaction, like a short hug goodbye, can make a major difference in a senior's day. Instead of battling against feelings of isolation, seniors begin to look forward to seeing their caregiver each week.

Understanding the nuances of senior care is just one of the reasons why our care providers are so great at their job.

Unlike some senior care companies, our caregivers must undergo extensive training before they work for Always Best Care. In addition, our caregivers receive ongoing training throughout the year. This training ensures that their standard of care matches up to the high standards we've come to expect. During this training, they will brush up on their communication skills, safety awareness, and symptom spotting. That way, your loved one receives the highest level of non-medical home care from day one.

 Caregivers Glencoe, MN

Taking the First Step with Always Best Care

The first step in getting quality in-home care starts with a personal consultation with an experienced Care Coordinator. This initial consultation is crucial for our team to learn more about you or your elderly loved one to discover the level of care required. Topics of this consultation typically include:

An assessment of your senior loved one

01

An in-depth discussion of the needs of your senior loved one to remain in their own home

02

Reviewing a detailed Care Plan that will meet your senior loved one's needs

03

Our caregivers are trained to spot changes that clients exhibit, like mental and physical decline. As your trusted senior care company, we will constantly assess and update your Care Plan to meet any new emotional, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs.

If you have never considered in-home care before, we understand that you and your family may have concerns about your Care Plan and its Care Coordinator. To help give you peace of mind, know that every team member and caregiver must undergo comprehensive training before being assigned to a Care Plan.

When you're ready, we encourage you to contact your local Always Best Care representative to set up a Care Consultation. Our Care Coordinators would be happy to meet with you in person to get to know you better, discuss your needs, and help put together a personalized Care Plan specific to your needs.

Latest News in Glencoe, MN

Minnesota woman with unpaid bills will lose doctors after she gives birth

A phone call telling Stephanie Beesing she was being cut off from her doctors and clinic was the last thing she wanted in month eight of a high-risk pregnancy.Yet that happened last month, triggering a frantic effort to maintain access to her care through Glencoe Regional Health in Glencoe, Minn. The organization was taking the action because Beesing was far behind in paying $4,100 in medical bills."I love my doctors and nurses I work with," she said, "which is why this is frustrating."Beesing's fight...

A phone call telling Stephanie Beesing she was being cut off from her doctors and clinic was the last thing she wanted in month eight of a high-risk pregnancy.

Yet that happened last month, triggering a frantic effort to maintain access to her care through Glencoe Regional Health in Glencoe, Minn. The organization was taking the action because Beesing was far behind in paying $4,100 in medical bills.

"I love my doctors and nurses I work with," she said, "which is why this is frustrating."

Beesing's fight shows that the denial of care to patients with unpaid debts is a practice that goes beyond one health care system in Minnesota.

Allina Health's cutoff policy gained national attention in the New York Times earlier this month, prompting the Minneapolis-based health system to suspend it. Other providers have used it to confront increasing financial challenges. Glencoe is an independent provider in central Minnesota.

Beesing persuaded Glencoe to delay the loss of medical access until after her scheduled baby delivery on Thursday and at least two postnatal visits. After that, Glencoe will remain a resource for emergency care but not for clinical care for Beesing or her husband or newborn, she said.

"If I haven't paid the debt in full or set up an automatic withdrawal for $100 per month, then they are dismissing me from the clinic," she said. "I don't want to shirk the debt or anything. I'm willing to pay. I can't do $100 a month right now. I could do $20 to $30 a month."

Cutting off clinical access is a last resort used intermittently in Minnesota by providers such as Allina and HealthPartners. Kaiser Health News reviewed 500 U.S. health systems in 2022 and found 90, including Mayo Clinic in Rochester, that also used the practice.

Management of bad debt has always been a challenge, with Minnesota hospital providers writing off $473 million in 2020 when patients couldn't pay what they owed. The pressure to minimize that amount has increased, though, with hospitals reporting leaner finances following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even before that event, 29 of 128 Minnesota hospitals were considered financially distressed, meaning they had lost money on operations in four recent years. Glencoe lost money on the operation of its hospital, clinics and other facilities in 2017, but has seen positive and improving margins every year through 2021, according to state data.

While Glencoe had written off debts that Beesing had accrued before her bankruptcy filing, it was unwilling to waive a new stack of bills resulting from her pregnancy and other medical needs. The health system said in a written statement that it encourages patients to seek financial assistance and reaches out frequently to discuss payment options before taking drastic measures.

"It is always our goal to avoid dismissal," the statement said. "We are an independent healthcare system here to serve our community — our patients are our friends and neighbors."

Beesing and her husband landed in bankruptcy two years ago through the combination of unexpected joblessness and costly chronic health problems. The couple had moved from Wisconsin and bought a house in Glencoe on the promise of a job that disappeared at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We ended up having to use credit cards and things like that," Beesing said. "It got out of hand and we couldn't keep up with it anymore."

It is a common refrain; one 2019 study estimated that medical debts factor into two-thirds of U.S. personal bankruptcies. Beesing's attorney, Margaret Henehan, said she has filed bankruptcy for an increasing number of clients to prevent them from losing access to their doctors.

"We know what to do with bankruptcy," she said. "So that ends the fight."

While bankruptcy protection set up a payment plan to help Beesing resolve old debts, it couldn't shield her from new bills when she became pregnant and required additional prenatal monitoring because of her diabetes.

Beesing, 35, works at a local library and her husband is in management training at a restaurant. They had a high-deductible health plan through the state's MNsure program, and qualified for a modest discount on premiums, but were still left with copays and out-of-pocket expenses that they couldn't afford.

The family is facing new pressures. Beesing wants to keep working to pay down the family's old and new debts, but child-care costs could exceed her salary. She is looking out of town for doctors, perhaps 20 miles away in Hutchinson or Waconia, but some aren't taking new patients or scheduling appointments anytime soon.

Beesing said many Glencoe officials have been sympathetic, and her doctor helped delay her loss of clinical access. She is hopeful of at least working out discounts to her debts. Meantime, the overdue notices keep coming.

"I actually just got another one today," she said.

Pregnant MN Woman Will No Longer Lose Doctors After Donors Pay Debt

She was told while eight months pregnant she would be cut off from clinic care due to $4,100 in medical debt, the Star Tribune reported.GLENCOE, MN — A pregnant Glencoe woman will not be cut off from receiving medical care after people who read of her plight donated to help pay her debts and allow her to keep her doctors, she said.“I don't even know where to begin to say thank you,” ...

She was told while eight months pregnant she would be cut off from clinic care due to $4,100 in medical debt, the Star Tribune reported.

GLENCOE, MN — A pregnant Glencoe woman will not be cut off from receiving medical care after people who read of her plight donated to help pay her debts and allow her to keep her doctors, she said.

“I don't even know where to begin to say thank you,” Stephanie Beesing wrote in a GoFundMe. “I am overwhelmed and in awe of people's generosity.”

Beesing was told while eight months pregnant that she would be cut off from clinic care due to $4,100 in medical debt owed to Glencoe Regional Health, according to the Star Tribune. Beesing was able to ensure care during the birth of her child and two additional visits, but would then only have access to the provider’s emergency services, the Tribune reported.

“ER and Urgent Care only access is not helpful when you have a chronic or ongoing illness that you need specialists for,” she wrote. “I don't want this to happen again, to myself, and definitely not to anyone else.”

Beesing and her husband were in bankruptcy two years ago after suffering pandemic-related job loss and chronic health issues, according to the Tribune, which reported their state insurance had a high deductible and they struggled with copays and out-of-pocket costs.

Find out what's happening in Across Minnesotawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Glencoe Regional Health told the Tribune that patients are encouraged to pursue financial help and consider payment options and that it tries to avoid cutting off care.

Tribune readers donated money for Beesing’s bills, according to Beesing, who was scheduled to be induced Thursday due to diabetes and a high-risk pregnancy. She is also debating whether to return to work at a local library after her unpaid three-month leave, as childcare could cost more than her salary, the Tribune reported.

“I want to encourage people to contact the State Attorney General and the clinics who have these policies: they need to change,” she wrote. “Especially when we are hard-working people and have medical insurance but the costs of specialists or continued care for chronic issues just keeps piling up before anyone can even get a chance to get ahead.”

Allina Health recently fell under scrutiny when a similar policy was reported by The New York Times, but the provider has since paused the practice.

Donors moved by Glencoe woman's story help her pay medical bills, keep doctors

Minnesotans have responded to the plight of a pregnant woman in Glencoe, Minn., who was about to lose access to her doctors over her medical debts.Stephanie Beesing received an outpouring of support following a Star Tribune story about her situation on Monday, and her attorney said she received multiple checks, including one for $6,000, that could pay off those debts.&quo...

Minnesotans have responded to the plight of a pregnant woman in Glencoe, Minn., who was about to lose access to her doctors over her medical debts.

Stephanie Beesing received an outpouring of support following a Star Tribune story about her situation on Monday, and her attorney said she received multiple checks, including one for $6,000, that could pay off those debts.

"All I could do was cry," Beesing said. "I am overwhelmed and in awe of people's generosity."

Glencoe Regional Health Services had notified Beesing and her husband that they would lose access to non-emergency medical services from the provider unless they made progress in paying $4,100 in overdue bills.

The cutoff was postponed until after Beesing's scheduled baby delivery on Thursday and a couple of postnatal visits. Now the charitable support could prevent that loss altogether.

Glencoe Regional Health is an independent provider in central Minnesota, and is among the health systems in the state that will suspend access to non-emergency care as a last resort when patients have substantial unpaid bills.

A spokeswoman said the health system is prevented by medical privacy laws from even acknowledging that a patient is in its care.

"We want to be as supportive to this individual as possible," said Lynn Beranek, director of community outreach and marketing for Glencoe Regional Health. "Please reach out to the individual directly for more information on any preferences she may have for accepting donations."

Beesing and her husband moved to Glencoe in 2020 on the promise of a job that went away when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They eventually filed for bankruptcy and agreed to a court-ordered plan to slowly pay back debts.

Then Beesing got pregnant, which she said was a surprise because she thought she was infertile because of her health problems. The 35-year-old needed extra prenatal monitoring because her diabetes added risk to the pregnancy. A fresh round of bills stacked up.

Beesing works in the Carver County library system and her husband, Mark, is in management training for a restaurant. They have health insurance, but fell behind as a result of co-pays and deductibles.

Beesing has set up an online fundraiser and is represented by bankruptcy attorney Margaret Henehan. She said she is grateful for her Glencoe doctors and wants to pay her debts but disagrees with any policy that cuts off access to health care while patients try to catch up.

"We are hard-working people and have medical insurance, but the costs of specialists or continued care for chronic issues just keep piling up before anyone can even get a chance to get ahead," she said.

Gun and purse bingo fundraisers grow in popularity in Minnesota

This is the story of how shotguns and Kate Spade saved a town festival.When tight finances and slipping attendance and sponsorship threatened the long-standing Glencoe Days in Glencoe, Minn., about 50 miles west of the Twin Cities, organizers came up with an idea: bingo.But instead of cash, a full scorecard could win a lucky player a Michael Kors purse, a Coach wallet, a Remington rifle or a SIG Sauer pistol.Myranda VanDamme, president of the Glencoe Area Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the...

This is the story of how shotguns and Kate Spade saved a town festival.

When tight finances and slipping attendance and sponsorship threatened the long-standing Glencoe Days in Glencoe, Minn., about 50 miles west of the Twin Cities, organizers came up with an idea: bingo.

But instead of cash, a full scorecard could win a lucky player a Michael Kors purse, a Coach wallet, a Remington rifle or a SIG Sauer pistol.

Myranda VanDamme, president of the Glencoe Area Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the Glencoe Days Committee, landed on the unusual pairing after googling, "How can I make a lot of money in a short period of time?"

She found that a few nonprofit organizations were raising money by offering fancy purses worth hundreds of dollars as bingo prizes. To get men in the door, they were also adding guns as a prize option.

"I had never heard of it," VanDamme said. "I said, 'What is this? I can do it.' "

Glencoe Days had its first designer purse bingo in 2018, followed by designer purse and gun bingo in 2021.

"It has saved our program," said VanDamme.

The bingo events have raised $6,000 to $12,000 per event for Glencoe Days, a three-day festival in June that includes a carnival, live music, food trucks, a parade, fireworks and a Miss Glencoe pageant. The town of about 5,600, the McLeod County seat, has been holding the festival for more than 50 years.

In recent years, variations of firearms-and-fancy-leather-goods bingo have been popping up in Twin Cities suburbs and greater Minnesota, where they're met with seemingly little controversy. There also are guns-and-diamonds bingos or purses-and-Yeti-cooler bingos.

Gun bingo has been used for fundraising events by competitive shooting teams and local hunting groups such as Ducks Unlimited, but also by the Detroit Lakes Jaycees and as a cancer research fundraising event in Blooming Prairie. You can also find gun bingos in other states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, benefiting everything from volunteer fire departments to military museums.

It was snowing on March 11, but the spacious ballroom of the Glencoe City Center hosted a sold-out crowd of 250 for the Glencoe Days fundraiser, with participants coming from as far away as Mankato and St. Cloud.

About an equal number of men and women were eyeing the prize tables featuring purses by Coach, Michael Kors and Kate Spade and guns by Ruger, Remington and SIG Sauer. They paid $50 each for 10 rounds of bingo.

There were couples on dates, groups of women for a ladies night out. Lots were dressed in green for a contest for best dressed for St. Patrick's Day.

"My husband would love for me to pick up a gun," said bingo player Deanne Fogarty, a Belle Plaine resident. But Fogarty's husband, who was home watching the kids, would likely be out of luck. If she were to win, Fogarty said, her husband would "get a nice green purse."

It wasn't the opportunity to win a purse that brought Hutchinson resident Corey Finke to the event. "I just heard I got a chance to win a gun, so I said, 'I'm in,' " he said.

But both the men and women playing agreed that winning a nice-to-have luxury item like a purse or a rifle made the game a lot more appealing than a cash prize that would just be spent paying the bills.

"It's nice to have a different prize that I'm shooting for," Finke said.

"I think it's nice to get something other than money," said Katlyn Mayer, of Hutchinson. "You get to pick purses you wouldn't necessarily buy otherwise."

VanDamme said her organization gets a deal on the purses it buys in bulk, but the sticker price of the purse sets (which typically included a wallet, a small purse and a larger bag) can make the prizes seem like they're worth as much as $1,200. The group works with a gun dealer from Apple Valley to supply the firearms.

She said the event would give away a total of about $3,000 worth in prizes, and she was hoping to raise up to $12,000 for Glencoe Days, which will be June 23-25.

Bingo winners who chose purse sets would be able to take them home that night, but gun winners would have to go to the gun shop later to pick up their guns. Depending on the gun, winners might need to have a permit to purchase or a permit to carry or undergo a background check.

VanDamme said she's not gotten any pushback on the gun bingo since all the legal requirements are followed.

North Mankato resident Jill Schmidt is a purse bingo veteran. She came to the Glencoe event with a Kate Spade bag she won at a bingo in North Mankato. Schmidt estimates she's won about a dozen purses in the past two or three years playing bingo.

"Once I won three in one night," she said. And she was lucky again in Glencoe, winning a Michael Kors set that included an orange wallet, a crossbody purse and a tote. The wallet alone was tagged as having a retail value of $258.

"I would never spend that," Schmidt said. "So that's why I like [winning] it."

New Ulm resident Jenn Lieder also got a bingo in one of the first games of the night in Glencoe. She selected a SIG Sauer P322, a .22-caliber pistol, as her prize.

"I've been looking for one for a while," Lieder said. She said they typically sell for $400 to $450.

Lieder said she owns three handguns, but only two purses. If she won again, "I would still probably stick with guns, but I wouldn't rule out a purse," she said. "They have a pretty nice 9 millimeter gun."

Purse bingos also have been around for several years and are "extremely popular," said Steve Pedersen, regulation manager for the Minnesota Gambling Control Board. State charitable gambling rules are basically the same whether the prizes are cash or merchandise. Currently, gun bingos are less popular than purse bingos, said Pedersen.

"I've thought about gun bingo," said Marc Tobias, gambling manager for the Rosemount Area Hockey Association. He thinks a gun bingo could draw a bigger audience for a one-time event than the weekly cash bingo at a local Carbone's Pizzeria and the monthly purse bingo and Yeti cooler bingo he currently runs. But he said he'd first need to find a gun distributor and a bigger space.

"We'd have to rent out the community center," he said.

The Northwest Area Jaycees have had designer purse bingo since 2015, and "now it's 2023 and it's still hugely popular," said Terry Ward, assistant gambling manager for bingo for the northwest metro organization.

Ward said she has also tried bingo with Yeti coolers with success.

"The place is packed and men are coming in droves," she said. "People like high-end products that they wouldn't otherwise buy for themselves."

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