Townstead Update!

We are nearly half way to our goal of 70% pre-reserved for Phase One of Townstead.  We have been listening to our customers and can now offer the following improvements to the already fantastic Townstead living experience.  Phase one now features two new apartment floor plans.  The Harriet Lane is a spectacular 1650 square foot residence with two balconies, a study, 21/2 baths and beautiful finishes.  The George Ross is a spacious one bedroom deluxe apartment.

The Harriet Lane, 1650 square feet, 2 Bedroom, 21/2 bath

In addition to new floor plans, the big news is smaller meal plans.  The new standard Townstead Meal Plan mirrors our cottage and villa meals plans, currently just $67 per person per month.  The Homestead Village dining department offers fresh, delicious, healthy meals throughout the day, everyday.  Contact Susan Doyle or Nettie Cimadamore in the Homestead Village marketing department for more details.  Remember Phase One depositors receive a free granite counter upgrade!  Come see why Townstead is your best senior living choice.

Scams Come in Many Flavors. Some Might Really Appeal to You!

Some of the political solicitations for money that one
Homestead resident received so far in 2012

Phone calls, e-mails and letters in the mail.  All three bring needed information, greetings from friends and family and requests for money.  Recently a Homestead Village resident asked me to review her mail because there were so many requests for money.  In the stack of official looking documents were many, many requests for donations from organizations that appear to be reputable but all wanted the same thing – hundreds of dollars to help “them” protect “us” from the evil politicians on the other side.  This is not a Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative problem.  Whenever people have passionate feelings about a topic, entrepreneurs find a way to make money on it.

It is not just politics though; religious organizations, animal rights and environmental groups and nearly every other social issue attract questionable groups that solicit money allegedly for the cause.  What should you do?  Here are some suggested responses to the avalanche of requests for donations.

Just say NO to any organization that seeks you out for money.  The sad truth is that once you give money to a cause, that organization may sell your personal information, allowing a plethora of copycats to solicit you as well.  If you are passionate about a cause, you should seek out a reputable organization or two and give to them exclusively. 

Throw away, delete or hang up on any request for money that you did not initiate.  These requests for money use passionate language and create a sense of urgency designed to cause you to write a check.  You must resist these sophisticated schemes.  Only give money to organizations that you have sought out and confirmed their integrity.  Any money sent to an unknown organization may end up in someone’s personal bank account and do nothing for the cause you are passionate about.

In other words, check writer beware!

Property Tax Article in the Lancaster Sunday News Fairly Portrayed the Story

Mews Boulevard

Property tax is a very passionate subject in today's society.  It is the principal source of revenue for most school districts and local municipalities and the tax rate varies significantly from district to district.  By law, charitable non-profit organizations in Pennsylvania are not required to pay property tax, yet most non-profit retirement communities do pay taxes or make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs).  In Lancaster County, the non-profit retirement communities pay over $10,000,000 in property taxes a year.  In Hempfield School District the three largest tax payers are  non-profit, health care and retirement organizations - paying far more in property taxes than the many large industrial neighbors in the district.


Homestead Village has paid many millions of dollars in property taxes over the past decade.  As an organization, we believe it is our civic duty to pay our share of the cost of providing quality education and services to the community. It is important to note that we maintain all private streets and infrastructure.  From paving to snow removal to lighting to sidewalks, Homestead Village is 100% responsible for our miles of roads We cost the township no money for maintenance.  When we built The Mews and expanded to the other side of Good Drive, we paid a significant portion of the cost of the creation of Noll Drive and we paid for nearly half of the cost of the traffic light at Noll and Good Drives.  it goes without saying that Homestead Village's neighborhoods do not contribute any students nor place any financial burden on Hempfield School District.

Our property tax for last year was approximately $650,000 representing one of our largest budgeted expenses.  In 2010, we refinanced our long term debt.  As part of that process, the financial institution required an appraisal on The Mews property.  To our surprise, the appraised value was 50% of the assessed value.  That discovery prompted our leadership to hire an independent consultant to analyze our property taxes.  His determination was that Homestead Village's property taxes should be reduced 30%.  It is important to point out that the consultant we contracted  with was recommended by another retirement community.  In that case, the same consultant determined that community was paying the appropriate amount of taxes.  Thus we believe our consultant is very conservative in his determination.

Lastly, it is important to note that Homestead Village is committed to paying our fair share of the property tax burden

Using The Resident Expectations Survey to Improve Life at Homestead Village

As mentioned previously, the 2011 Resident Expectation Survey was very positive.  Summarizing, overall satisfaction came in at 98.54% and satisfaction increased or stayed the same in 18 of the 23 areas surveyed.  While the numerical ratings for each question in the satisfaction survey are both  interesting and beneficial to benchmark the satisfaction scores versus previous surveys, the comments are the the very best source of information for quality improvement. 

Each of the 23 questions in the bi-annual expectation survey includes space for comments and many residents took advantage of the opportunity to provide feedback.  For 2011, the comments spanned 44 pages and totaled over 1100 separate points of feedback.  Well over half of the comments were positive regarding services and quality of staff members; but the constructive criticism contains many illuminating statements and good ideas.

Each Department Leader reviews the comments pertaining to their department, identifying comments that are positive as well as those that raise concerns.  For each concern, an appropriate action is determined.  For concerns that span more than one department, a quality improvement task force is developed to address the shortcoming.

Some examples of comments follow: 

Question 17 covered the quality of staff exhibiting friendliness, helpfulness, competency and cheer.  That category scored 99.64% satisfied, a .01% improvement over 2009.  20 of the 23 comments were positive.  The three concerns related to staff not being friendly at all times.  The clearest example was the comment that "some staff look the other way when I encounter them in the hallway."  These comments will be used as customer service examples in employee training and new employee orientation.

Question 16 relates to the timeliness and quality of communication between administration and residents. This question scored 98.55%, a .85% increase in satisfaction over 2009.  Ten of the nineteen comments were positive.  Of the nine concerns, some related to HVTV (Channel 95), one related to timeliness of notices, and one stated that long term goals are not clear.  Channel 95 improvements are ongoing and the timeliness of notices and long term goal issues will be examined for ways to improve both.

This level of detail is applied to all comments so that we can continue to improve the quality of our services and better fulfill our mission!

Satisfaction - a Homestead Village Tradition!

Our biannual satisfaction survey was conducted in Spring 2011 and the results once again prove that Homestead Village residents are very happy with their community and their decision to make Homestead their home.

Fickes House Dining Room is a reflection
of Homestead quality.

Of the 22 aspects of quality of life surveyed, 13 scored above 98%, 17, above 95% and 2 scored 100% satisfaction.  That compares to the 2009 survey in which 9 areas scored above 98% and 15 above 95%.

The two services that scored 100% satisfaction were Transportation and Snow Removal.  Of special note is our Environmental Services Department goal to remove all snow from each resident's path - including the snow between resident cars parked outside and even the snow ON each resident's car!

As important as the high scores are in measuring satisfaction, we especially treasure the comments.  Our residents' countless ideas and feedback will serve us well in continuing to make Homestead Village the best place to live and to work.

Why Homestead Village Needs To Grow

Townstead is the exciting new 60 apartment edition to Homestead Village.  Some residents have asked, is it really necessary to build 60 more apartments.  They like Homestead Village just the way it is and do not want it to grow any bigger.  Their question is, "Why do we need to build more apartments?"  Here's the answer.

What is too big?
Often existing residents don't like the idea of new living units because it means more people and more crowds.  In reality Townstead will be beneficial in this area.  The sixty apartments will further improve our financial position and reduce each resident's individual portion of the administrative overhead.  Most of the first floor renovations and additions and part of the second floor will be  dedicated to wonderful new common space.  In reality, the new Homestead Village will feature improved activity and dining space as well as a much larger library, chapel and other meeting rooms.

Even though we are blessed with more than sixty acres in the best location in Lancaster, Homestead Village will never grow too big...Future growth at our Rohrerstown location will be limited to incremental increases, meaning Homestead Village will always be a medium sized senior living community.


New Apartments bring Needed New Amenities
Common space costs plenty.  Many communities spend tens of millions of dollars to add important amenities. It is not financially prudent to invest millions in non-revenue producing amenities without adding some additional revenue producing living units.  Townstead gives us the best of both worlds.

Growth meets a Need
Homestead Village has grown many times over the past 25 years.  The addition of seventy additional apartments in 1989, the completion of the cottages in the late eighties, the development of Villa Court in the nineties followed by the completion of The Mews in the last decade has given hundreds of seniors the opportunity to live at Homestead Village who otherwise would not have had that opportunity.  Today, our priority list stakeholders who want to live in a two bedroom apartment are unable to make Homestead Village their home, due to the acute shortage.  Townstead will add fifty additional two bedroom apartments, alleviating the long wait.

Townstead is the best and brightest future for Homestead Village!

Managing your Medicare Benefit

Since 1965 seniors have benefited from a great health insurance program known as Medicare.  Designed specifically for the needs of seniors, Medicare has played an important role in improving the lives of older adults.  Over the decades, numerous changes have occurred to the Medicare program and a number of innovations have been tried.  Here is a short description of what you need to know about your Medicare benefit.

Social Security Amendments of 1972
Signed into law by President Nixon, the key change brought about by this amendment made Medicare available to anyone who had paid into Social Security for a short period of time and then became disabled, after a two year waiting period.  This is the first of many changes that weakened Medicare financially.

Catastrophic Medicare Act of 1988  
The first sweeping change that occurred with Medicare was the passing of the Catastrophic Medicare Legislation in the late eighties.  While the name implied an improvement in Medicare benefits, it actually resulted in a catastrophic financial impact, resulting in its repeal just one year later - one of the only instances of the Federal Government recognizing its error and addressing it in a timely manner.

Medicare Modernization Act of 2003
The next major change to Medicare was the Medicare Modernization Act, adding a prescription drug program to Medicare.  While the act improved access to drugs, the complexity of the program makes it very difficult for most seniors to utilize it fully and the unfunded cost has actually further destabilized the Medicare program.

Medicare HMOs and Advantage Programs
As part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the Medicare Choice program was established.  These programs are either HMOs or PPOs that bundle Medicare services into a cost effective program. The programs often entice older adults to leave their traditional Medicare plans with the promise of lower monthly premiums and enhanced prescription drug benefits; but the shortcomings of the plan are revealed when residents need it most.  Some plans only contract with certain providers for services such as long term care, often forcing retirement community residents to use a different nursing home for rehabilitation.  Many plans only approve very short stays before cutting the Medicare benefit, putting the burden on the resident or their advocate to fight for the benefits that by rights they should already have.  While these programs promise to save enrollees money, they often fall short of expectations when real medical needs arise.  For this reason, Homestead Village believes traditional Medicare is the best choice for retirement community residents.

Patient Care Protection and Affordability Act (PCPAA)
The PCPAA, also known as Health Care Reform, makes fundamental changes to the program, including the reduction of nearly $500 billion dollars from the program over the next ten years.  While politicians promise older Americans that their health insurance will not be harmed, many of these cuts threaten the quality of care and even access to medical care.  The PCPAA earmarks nearly $148 billion in cuts to hospitals, nearly $40 billion in cuts to home health care, $15 billion in cuts to nursing homes and nearly $7 billion in cuts to hospice.  The Medicare Advantage Plans are scheduled to receive $132 billion of cuts over the next ten years.  Already, the federal government has announced an 11% cut for nursing home residents in 2011 - even in the face of rising expenses.  This will result in severe pressure on providers to maintain quality in an extremely challenging fiscal environment.

With the difficult financial challenges that both state and federal governments face, the pressure on Medicare will only increase over the next decade.  The PCPAA actually uses reductions in Medicare to help fund uninsured Americans.  This will most likely result in some form of rationing similar to what seniors in countries such as Canada face where medical care is rationed based on the age of the patient and the funding available.  If Medicare is going to remain a high quality health insurance program for seniors, then some tough decisions will need to be made by our leaders in Washington.  While there are some cost savings from the implementation of electronic record keeping and fraud reduction, fundamental changes need to occur with the program (along with all of Social Security), including age restrictions as well as premiums based on both income and the real cost of health care.  Washington's unwillingness to address this political hot potato will end up jeopardizing the program.

If you have any questions about your Medicare benefits, please check out www.medicare.gov.  It is a great source of information.  Homestead Village's staff will also help you find answers to your Medicare questions.