What is the diffence in the care homes?

Privately owned probably means they won't take medicare/medicaid only private pay. Good thing to think about if and when your mom runs out of money, you'll have to move her somewhere else. Also, the asst. living that has a memory care unit attached or close by that they run too, is a plus. She can be grandfathered into that rather than having to find another place on your own when she gets worse. My mother-in-law started out in asst. living, but when an opening came up in the memory care unit we jumped at it. The people are wonderful to her there. Looks for a place that has activities for the seniors that she might like. They should have a shuttle that takes them to the store at least once a week, and also should take them on outings once a week too. They will offer you the chance to have lunch there on them, so take advantage so you can talk to the other people to see what they think about the place. Does the lady who takes you on the tour, know the names of the people she meets? They should, if they're involved with the residents. We were paying $3800 at my mother-in-law's asst living place, but now we're paying $5000 for memory care. It's a boat load of money for sure, but she's much more calm and I rarely get the frantic phone calls from her wondering where the heck she's living.

I agree privately owned is probably all self pay without Medicaid beds. In my area there are some non-profit assisted living facilities with memory care secured areas. If you can find a non-profit the rates will be somewhat lower.

Make sure you check the blue menu button labeled Senior Living near the top of this page. You will find lots of helpful information there.