Austin Senior Advisor Guides

Austin Senior Advisor GuidesSenior care guides for Austin-area familieshttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/2026-11-13T00:00:00ZAustin Senior Advisor Care TeamInpatient Rehab, a Nursing Home, or Home: The Discharge Choice an Austin Hospital Gives You in 48 Hourshttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/inpatient-rehab-vs-skilled-nursing-vs-home-health-austin/2026-11-13T00:00:00Z2026-11-13T00:00:00Z

Austin case managers use one word, rehab, for three settings with three different Medicare rules and three different bills. Here is what each one requires, what it costs in 2026, and the questions that get a straight answer.

The Highland Lakes Are Not Austin: Senior Care in Marble Falls, Burnet and Horseshoe Bayhttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/highland-lakes-senior-care-marble-falls-burnet-horseshoe-bay/2026-11-09T00:00:00Z2026-11-09T00:00:00Z

More than a third of Llano County is over 65, the highest share anywhere in the Capital Area, and the systems that serve Austin families reach the Highland Lakes unevenly. Here is which ones do.

The Nursing Home Does Not Have to Be Permanent: How Money Follows the Person Works in Texashttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/money-follows-the-person-texas-nursing-home-to-community-austin/2026-10-30T00:00:00Z2026-10-30T00:00:00Z

Texas nursing facility residents are asked, by federal rule, whether they want to talk to someone about returning to the community. Saying yes opens a Medicaid route that does not require waiting on the STAR+PLUS interest list.

Live-In Home Care in Austin: What It Is, What It Costs, and the Overtime Rule Families Misshttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/live-in-home-care-austin-cost-overtime-rules/2026-10-26T00:00:00Z2026-10-26T00:00:00Z

Live-in care means a caregiver lives in your parent's Austin home. It is not the same as 24-hour shift care, and federal overtime and sleep-time rules change the price depending on who employs the caregiver.

PASRR: The Federal Screening That Can Stall an Austin Nursing Home Admissionhttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/pasrr-screening-austin-nursing-home-admission/2026-10-26T00:00:00Z2026-10-26T00:00:00Z

Every person entering a Medicaid-certified Texas nursing facility needs a PASRR Level 1 screening, private pay included. Here is who completes it, the four outcomes, which Austin-area agency does the evaluation, and where it stalls.

Community First Choice: The Texas Attendant-Care Benefit That Turns on One Word in Your Parent's Medicaid Filehttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/community-first-choice-texas-attendant-care-mao-austin/2026-10-23T00:00:00Z2026-10-23T00:00:00Z

Texas pays for an attendant to help your parent at home through a benefit called Community First Choice. Whether your parent can reach it comes down to how their Medicaid is classified, not how much care they need.

Type A Assisted Living and a Parent Who Needs More Help: The Evacuation Waiver Explainedhttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/type-a-assisted-living-parent-declines-evacuation-waiver-austin/2026-10-19T00:00:00Z2026-10-19T00:00:00Z

When a parent in a Type A Austin assisted living community starts needing hands-on help, Texas has a written process: retention forms, an HHSC evacuation waiver, or a 30-day move. Here is how it works and what to ask.

You Are the Agent Under Mom's Power of Attorney: What Texas Expects of Youhttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/texas-power-of-attorney-agent-duties-austin-assisted-living/2026-10-16T00:00:00Z2026-10-16T00:00:00Z

Getting a Texas power of attorney signed is only the start. Here is what an agent can and cannot do, which document covers money versus medicine, and how to sign an Austin assisted living agreement without risking your own savings.

Cedar Park and Leander: Hospitals, Senior Centers and Rides for an Aging Parenthttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/cedar-park-leander-senior-care-hospital-seniors-centers-rides/2026-10-14T00:00:00Z2026-10-14T00:00:00Z

Cedar Park and Leander share a care corridor but not the same hospital, transit or daytime programs. Here is where a parent's hospital stay really happens, who offers rides, and what no one has published a price for.

Round Rock Senior Care: Hospitals, Rides, and the Baca Centerhttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/round-rock-senior-care-hospitals-rides-baca-center/2026-10-09T00:00:00Z2026-10-09T00:00:00Z

Round Rock has three hospital campuses, a city ride service, and a 50-plus center. Here is how to use them, which local numbers to save, and what to check before choosing a facility in this part of Williamson County.

Taking a Week Off: The Four Ways Austin Caregivers Can Get Respite, and What Each One Requireshttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/respite-care-austin-caregiver-week-off/2026-10-07T00:00:00Z2026-10-07T00:00:00Z

Respite care exists in Austin, but nobody hands it to you. Four routes are open: a local grant, Medicaid waiver hours, hospice, and private pay. Each has a catch. Here is what each requires and what to ask.

A Nursing Home Wants to Discharge Your Parent: What Texas Rules Actually Requirehttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/nursing-home-discharge-notice-rights-austin/2026-10-05T00:00:00Z2026-10-05T00:00:00Z

Texas nursing facilities can discharge a resident only for seven listed reasons, usually with 30 days' written notice and a 90-day appeal right. Here is how to read the letter, who to call in Austin, and when to file.

Before the Next Ice Storm: A Power-Outage Plan for a Parent Living at Home in Austinhttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/winter-storm-power-outage-plan-parent-at-home-austin/2026-10-02T00:00:00Z2026-10-02T00:00:00Z

Austin's last big freezes were February 2021 and January 2026. If your parent lives alone, the plan has to exist before the forecast does. Here is what the city's medical registry does, what it does not, and what to arrange this month.

The Holiday Visit: What to Look for When You See Your Parent This Thanksgiving, and Who to Call in Austinhttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/holiday-visit-signs-parent-needs-help-austin/2026-09-30T00:00:00Z2026-09-30T00:00:00Z

Thanksgiving is often when adult children first see how much a parent has changed. Here is what to check in the first hour, how to tell normal aging from a warning sign, and which Austin numbers to call Monday morning.

The $2,000 Line: How Medicaid Asset Spend-Down Actually Works in Texas, and When to Do Ithttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/medicaid-spend-down-timing-austin/2026-09-28T00:00:00Z2026-09-28T00:00:00Z

Texas checks countable assets against a $2,000 line on the first moment of the month, not an average over time. Spending it down the right way, with a paper trail, gets a parent to that line without triggering a transfer penalty.

Flu Season and Visitation Rights at an Austin Senior Care Facility: What the Rules Actually Sayhttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/flu-season-visitation-rights-austin-senior-care/2026-09-25T00:00:00Z2026-09-25T00:00:00Z

Texas law caps how long a nursing home or assisted living facility can restrict visits during a flu outbreak, and a separate state rule sets a hard vaccination deadline for nursing facilities. Here is what Austin families need to know before flu season peaks.

The Entrance Fee Is Not a Deposit: Reading an Austin Continuing Care Contract Under the Law Texas Rewrote This Yearhttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/texas-ccrc-entrance-fee-contract-austin/2026-09-23T00:00:00Z2026-09-23T00:00:00Z

Texas gives you seven days to walk away from a continuing care contract and a legal right to the community's financial disclosure statement. Both rules changed on January 1, 2026, and most sales offices have not updated their scripts.

Six Rules a Certified Austin Memory Care Unit Has to Follow — and How to Check Each Onehttps://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/certified-memory-care-unit-standards-austin/2026-09-19T00:00:00Z2026-09-19T00:00:00Z

An Alzheimer's certification is not a plaque. It is a set of operating rules on training, activities, staffing, outdoor space and door locks. Most of them you can verify yourself on a tour, in about twenty minutes.

Your Parent Wants to Stay Home. Read the Agency's License First.https://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/texas-home-care-agency-license-categories-austin/2026-09-19T00:00:00Z2026-09-19T00:00:00Z

Texas does not license home care as one thing. It licenses categories, and the category on an agency's license decides whether the person standing in your parent's kitchen can legally fill a pill organizer.

Your Parent Went to the Hospital. Is the Room Still Theirs?https://austinsenioradvisor.com/blog/bed-hold-when-parent-goes-to-hospital-austin/2026-09-14T00:00:00Z2026-09-14T00:00:00Z

An ambulance leaves an Austin community at 2 a.m. and nobody explains what happens to the room, the rent, or the bed. Texas answers that question four different ways depending on who is paying.