Independence at home; solid planning for future needs
WesleyLife understands that you’re committed to remaining in your home as you age. To help you stay there comfortably, safely, healthfully, and independently while planning for any wellness needs that might arise, we’re offering an innovative program unique to our area: WellAhead – A WesleyLife Well-Being Experience.
A membership program that's a perfect fit for WesleyLife’s health and well-being emphasis, WellAhead gives you the opportunity to continue to live independently at home while enjoying programming designed to help you stay healthy. What's more, with a financial premise based on capitation, the program assures you that if you do need an enhanced level of care at some point, you will be able to access it immediately from WesleyLife at no cost other than your membership and monthly fees.
Why is WellAhead a good idea for me?
Simply put, it supports your desire to live at home and is designed to help you remain independent and healthy there, offering the services of a wellness coach to help make the most of your well-being. It also provides significant healthcare savings to assist you if and when you become ill or injured and need services.
Remain at Home
Protect Your Assets
If you need an enhanced level of healthcare later on, the program will cover 100% of all primary costs in a WesleyLife community or with services provided by WesleyLife at Home.
Promote Well-Being
Plan for Future Health Needs
If care is needed in the future, WesleyLife's network of home health and senior living services will be available to support your ideal lifestyle.
After you pay a one-time membership fee as entry into WellAhead, your monthly service fee will allow you to select from a menu of a la carte health and well-being options designed to help you live your healthiest, most joy-filled life in the comfort of your own home.
A La Carte Well-Being Offerings:
Additional Program Offerings:
Well-being advocacy
You’ll be assigned a 24/7 well-being advocate and will be able to leverage that relationship in a variety of ways, from assistance with your own wellness plan to help navigating healthcare questions.
Technology at your fingertips
Included with membership is a technology application designed to enhance member-to-member and member-to-wellness coach communication and connection.At-home services
If care and services are needed at some point to help you remain in your home, they, too, are available as part of WellAhead. Click 'Read More' for additional details.
At-home services include:
- Nursing services
- Medication reminders
- Chronic-care management
- Wound care
- Companion care
- Transportation
- Assistance with pet care
- Light maintenance, including “handyperson” services
- Meal preparation, housekeeping, and more
Enhanced levels of service and care
You are healthy now, and we will do all we can to help you stay that way! But if your care team determines you would be better served by assisted living or long-term care down the road, your membership will fund your services and care in a WesleyLife community – when you need it, where you need it, and for life!
Upcoming Events
WellAhead Education Webinar
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Member Stories
Marlene's Story
Marlene, 75, was highly motivated to remain in the home in which she had lived for nearly 50 years. She was a widow and neither of her sons lived nearby, so she saw the wisdom in creating a plan to enable her to stay independent in her house. She joined a WellAhead-related program in her town and enjoyed working with her advocate on ways to enhance her physical well-being. For three years, she walked at least two miles a day outdoors, missing only a few days over that period due to inclement weather.
On one of her walks one day, Marlene stumbled as she turned to wave to a neighbor. She fell, resulting in a tear to her meniscus; surgery followed, as did short-term rehabilitation. When Marlene returned home after a few weeks, she was visited immediately by a home-care nurse, who set up twice-weekly care sessions; services from an at-home aide followed and became a routine part of Marlene’s week.
“When I was first approached about the program, I really wondered if it was a good idea to pay money every month when I was feeling perfectly healthy — but thank goodness I did, as it ended up being a great help to me during this time,” Marlene says. “Also, my doctor told me that if I hadn’t been in such good shape — and I credit my advocate for her help with that! — my recovery would have been much harder.
“If you’re on the fence about joining, remember that we can never be sure what’s around the corner! The peace of mind alone has probably added years to my life. I can’t say enough about why this program is such a good idea.”
Don and Nancy
Don and Nancy were also committed to remaining in their home — the dream home that had taken them years to build, and in which they had raised their happy family of five children. Don had taken up golf in retirement, and Nancy stayed busy as a PRN nurse and as part-time daycare provider to two of the couple’s grandchildren. They learned about a program near them that is similar to WellAhead and thought it made sense, as their health and well-being were important to them and they planned to work at staying fit and healthy.
Over a period of weeks before his 73rd birthday, Don developed a nagging cough that seemed to grow worse with exertion on the golf course. After rounds of tests, he received a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a group of lung diseases that block air flow and make breathing difficult. Within months, he was receiving supplementary oxygen, and climbing the stairs in the couple’s two-story home had become difficult. Nancy wondered how long she’d be able to care for Don without assistance.
As it turned out, the trajectory of Don’s disease was quick, and he and Nancy decided home healthcare would be a good idea. A nurse visited three times a week, and any care costs not paid by Don and Nancy’s insurance were fulfilled by the program.
Then, months after the nurse visits began, Nancy fell and broke her arm. As much as it pained Nancy and Don to leave their home, Don's care team felt he would be best served in a community that provided long-term nursing services. Thanks to the couple's membership in the program, he was able to move to a health center at no additional cost, as Nancy relocated to independent living to be nearer to Don.
“I never thought we’d move — in fact, I never could have imagined Don getting sick,” Nancy says. “I’m grateful we’re planful people, though, and that’s what led us to join the program — because you just never know. It helped us a great deal and gave us options.”
Check out our FAQs
Explore answers to your most common questions about WellAhead.
Benefits cover all members’ private-pay care costs as outlined in their contracts. This can include the cost of assistance with activities of daily living; home modifications; in-home healthcare, and, in some cases, assisted living and short-term rehabilitation. It also includes customized a la carte options designed to help members stay independent and healthy in their homes.
While both allow you to plan wisely for future care needs, WellAhead supports your desire to remain in your home and provides benefits designed to keep you healthy enough to continue to live there. Simply put, with long-term care insurance, you join, then wait for a period of time for your benefits to kick in. After that, you pay your premiums and wait for a time you'll need them. With WellAhead, you receive SO much in return for your money, including your own health/lifestyle coach. Plus, the program actually helps you avoid a higher level of care! And if you do end up needing care, you won't be required to jump through hoops to obtain it; it will be available as soon as there's a need.
Think of your navigator as a concierge for all things health- and well-being-related! A wellness coach can help you navigate the logistical considerations involved in health-insurance coverage or complex care regiments; you can also rely on them help with a nutrition plan, exercises to help strengthen your core, or advice about fitness classes. How, and how often, to consult your wellness coach will be entirely up to you as a member.
A few things to consider: WellAhead is based on a program model that has been around more than 25 years. About 42 such programs exist in the United States, so you'd be in good company!
We also encourage you to talk through the program with your financial planner, your attorney, and your family. WellAhead falls under insurance code 526D of the Iowa Code, and actuarial studies will be performed every two years to ensure WellAhead is meeting its proscribed metrics.
We advise you to ask questions! We'd love to welcome you, but we want to make sure the program is a good fit for you as well.
Yes, this is allowed within the program, and is a common scenario.
Yes, we'll work with members who have long-term care plans to determine the best way to use the plan with WellAhead. The average discount per member is $5,000 to $7,000 off the program's entry fee.
Payments include a one-time entry fee and a fixed monthly fee. The entry fee carries a 5½-year amortization schedule and can be refunded upon a member's exit from the program.
WesleyLife will provide all services and care — wherever a member calls home!
No. Once a member is accepted into the program, that member's costs will be funded according to their contract.
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