Why do aging parents fight against assisted living?

Ailing residents are cash cows.
Three-quarters of facilities charge residents extra for a variety of services -- from bringing meals and delivering packages to making the bed and administering pills. "There is no limit on what you can charge for," says Jody Spiegel, director of the Nursing Home & Assisted Living Advocacy Project. One Los Angeles assisted-living facility began charging a resident, Carmen Lashley, extra fees when her health began to decline in 2011: $500 a month for administering her medication, dressing her, bathing her, wheeling her to meals -- on top of rent, and she was on a fixed income, says her daughter Maxine St. Prix. In January, Lashley was rushed to the hospital with a breathing problem; a physician recommended she move to a nursing home, so St. Prix notified the assisted-living facility. Still, the facility tried to collect one last month's rent and the extra $500 in fees, even though the contract indicated that in the event of a medical emergency, she did not have to give 30 days' notice. "A collections agency even called my daughter," says St. Prix.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-things-assistedliving-homes-wont-tell-you-1344980948534

I'm sure a lot of AL places are different than others. Some privately owned, others corporation owned. In my 2 cases, different places, everything was included, meals, assistance with medication (nurse on staff), cleaning and some laundry (sheets, towels). IF you needed anything outside of what they provided of course you were responsible for. That's a very good link that uncledave had. Just be diligent anywhere you take a loved one or for yourself. You really DO need an advocate by your side. Heck, I can go to the drs and forget what the heck he's told me by the time I get out to my car so I really can't trust that my 93 year old father would remember plus being Hard of HEARING on top of that!! :)