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A KFF Health News report examines aging life care managers, independent professionals who help families coordinate services and decisions for older adults. Their work can include arranging care, handling benefits paperwork and monitoring clients, but hourly fees vary widely and many families learn about the service only during a crisis.
Aging life care managers help families coordinate care and navigate complex decisions for older adults, a KFF Health News report shows, but the service remains little known and can cost $150 to $350 an hour among members of the professionals’ association. The report follows a Texas care manager who arranged an emergency caregiver after paperwork delays put an older woman’s planned move to memory care at risk.
Kristin Martinelli, who works for Mir Care Consultants in Central Texas, started a recent Monday by completing a Medicaid recertification form for a nursing home resident. She then met an 85-year-old woman with advanced dementia and the woman’s daughter, who had traveled from out of town. The woman was scheduled to move into a secure memory care unit, but the move required paperwork from her primary care doctor.
After the doctor initially said he would complete the forms that afternoon, a colleague later told Martinelli that he could not do so that day. Because the woman was not safe alone at home, Martinelli called a home care agency and sought a caregiver who could arrive within four hours. The report does not say whether the move ultimately proceeded that day.
Aging life care managers coordinate services rather than provide hands-on caregiving. Their work can include organizing moves, dealing with Medicare or Medicaid, accompanying clients to appointments, recommending local providers and checking in regularly. They may also alert relatives when a client’s situation changes and help mediate disagreements among family members.
Help During Care Crises
The report illustrates how a care manager can serve as a point person when families are dealing with medical appointments, benefits paperwork and sudden changes in an older relative’s safety. That coordination can be particularly relevant to adult children who live far away or discover during a visit that a parent needs more support than expected. Martinelli told KFF Health News that families often contact a manager only after a crisis has begun.
These professionals’ independent role is another distinction described in the report. Aging life care managers work for the client and family paying them, rather than for a hospital or insurer. The Aging Life Care Association’s code of ethics prohibits members from taking or paying referral fees and kickbacks. This can matter when families are comparing recommendations, though the report does not establish that every independent manager will recommend the same services or that every referral company lacks transparency.
Cost may limit access. Association chief executive Julie Wagner told the outlet that members charge $150 to $350 per hour, with rates varying by location. The report notes that some families divide the expense and that social service agencies in some cities offer services on a sliding scale, but it does not provide information on how widely such lower-cost options are available.
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How the Profession Works
These professionals were previously commonly called geriatric care managers. The field adopted the name aging life care managers about a decade ago, according to the report. Many enter the profession as nurses or social workers; others have backgrounds in physical or occupational therapy or gerontology. The report says certification requires a combination of advanced education and supervised experience before applicants can take an exam.
The Aging Life Care Association, a nonprofit representing the profession, was founded in the 1980s and has grown to more than 2,000 members, according to the source report. Despite that network, practitioners say many families have not heard of the service before they need it. Susy Elder Murphy, who owns a practice serving Washington, D.C., and nearby Maryland suburbs, told KFF Health News that callers often say they wish they had known about care managers months earlier.
The report contrasts independent managers with companies that refer families to senior living options. It says some referral businesses receive fees from facilities when they direct new residents there; A Place for Mom discloses on its website that senior living communities pay it for referrals. Julie Wagner characterized such companies as marketers. Families evaluating services can ask how an adviser is paid and whether recommendations are limited to providers with a business relationship.
“I wish I could have called you six months ago, but I didn’t know you existed.”
— Susy Elder Murphy, owner of Aging Well Eldercare
Costs and Access Vary
The supplied report does not give a publication date, the outcome of the 85-year-old woman’s delayed paperwork, or the full results of a 2025 client and family survey mentioned near the end of the source material. It is therefore not possible from the material provided to assess the survey’s findings or draw conclusions about client outcomes.
Rates and access also vary by geography. The report gives association members’ hourly range and two examples—$185 an hour at Martinelli’s practice and $210 at Murphy’s—but these figures do not establish what a family will pay in every location. The source does not detail how many managers offer sliding-scale services or whether particular insurance plans cover their fees.
The report describes the association’s ethics rules and the referral-fee practices disclosed by one senior living referral company. It does not compare the quality of individual care managers or establish that every company in either category follows the same practices. Families’ options and the availability of suitable local services remain case-specific.
Questions Families Can Ask
The report describes an existing service rather than a new policy or scheduled change, so it identifies no formal next milestone. For families considering a care manager, practical next steps include asking about training and certification, hourly rates, billing increments, experience with the older adult’s needs and the scope of services provided.
Families can also ask whether the manager receives referral fees, which providers they can recommend, how often they will communicate with relatives and what happens during an emergency. Those questions can help clarify both the manager’s independence and the likely cost before a crisis develops. The source does not say whether the association plans a new public-awareness initiative or changes to its standards.
Key Questions
What does an aging life care manager do?
An aging life care manager coordinates services for older adults and their families. The report lists help with moves, benefits paperwork, appointments, provider recommendations, regular check-ins and communication among relatives. They are coordinators, not hands-on caregivers.
How much do aging life care managers charge?
Julie Wagner told KFF Health News that association members charge $150 to $350 an hour, depending in part on location. The report gives examples of $185 and $210 an hour at two practices; individual rates may differ.
Are aging life care managers independent?
The report says they work for the client and family paying them, rather than for hospitals or insurers. The Aging Life Care Association’s code of ethics prohibits members from accepting or giving referral fees, fee splitting or kickbacks. Families can ask any prospective provider how they are paid.
When do families usually contact a care manager?
Practitioners told KFF Health News that many families learn about the service during a crisis, such as a hospitalization or a visit that reveals an older relative is much sicker than expected. The report does not establish how often families seek help earlier.
Can families find lower-cost help?
The report says some families share the cost and that social service agencies in some cities provide care managers on a sliding scale. It does not specify which areas offer those services, so availability must be checked locally.
Source: rss
