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Aging life care managers help older adults and families coordinate care, handle paperwork and plan moves, often during a health crisis. Their professional association says members charge $150 to $350 an hour, and the field remains little known to many families. The source report describes their role and costs; it does not announce a new policy or service.
Aging life care managers help older adults and their families coordinate care, navigate paperwork and manage transitions such as moving into memory care, according to a KFF Health News report. The report describes the service as an often little-known option for families facing complex care needs, with association members charging $150 to $350 an hour.
The report follows Kristin Martinelli, an aging life care manager with Mir Care Consultants in Central Texas, as she responds to a client’s changing care arrangements. Martinelli had arranged a meeting with a primary care doctor to complete paperwork for an 85-year-old woman moving into a secure memory care unit. When the doctor could not complete the forms that day, Martinelli said the family had to find a way to keep the woman safe at home. She called a home care agency and asked it to provide a caregiver within four hours.
Care managers may arrange or oversee moves, help with Medicare and Medicaid matters, accompany clients to appointments, recommend local services and visit regularly to check how care is going. They coordinate rather than provide hands-on care. Martinelli said their work can include helping families communicate and make decisions during a stressful period.
The report says most practitioners enter the field as nurses or social workers; others come from physical or occupational therapy or gerontology. Certification requires a combination of advanced education and supervised experience before candidates can take an exam. The Aging Life Care Association, a nonprofit representing the profession, has more than 2,000 members, but its chief executive said many families do not learn about care managers until a crisis is underway.
Independent Help Has a High Cost
Families may turn to a care manager when they are coordinating medical appointments, residential care, home support and paperwork across different providers. The report’s example shows how one delayed form can change a same-day plan when an older person cannot safely remain alone. A professional coordinator can help families respond, though the service does not replace medical care or hands-on caregiving.
Independence is a central distinction in the report. Aging life care managers work for the client and the family paying them, rather than for a hospital or insurer. The association’s code of ethics prohibits referral fees and similar payments tied to client referrals. By contrast, some senior-living referral services receive fees from facilities for directing prospective residents, a financial arrangement those services disclose, according to the report.
That support can be costly. The association’s chief executive put members’ rates at $150 to $350 per hour, with geographic variation. The report gives examples of $185 an hour at Martinelli’s practice in Texas and $210 at a Washington-area practice. Some families divide expenses, and some social service agencies offer services on a sliding scale, but access and affordability vary.
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A Profession Families Often Find Late
Practitioners were formerly commonly called geriatric care managers and began using the name aging life care managers about a decade ago, according to the report. Their work sits among a range of services with similar-sounding titles, including senior care advisers, patient advocates and care navigators. The report identifies working directly for the client and family, rather than earning referral fees from care providers, as a key difference.
The profession’s association was founded in the 1980s. Despite its growth, awareness remains a challenge, association members told KFF Health News. Susy Elder Murphy, who owns an eldercare practice serving Washington, D.C., and nearby Maryland communities, said people often tell her they wish they had known about the service months earlier. The report says adult children are commonly the ones who make the call, often after a hospital admission or a visit that reveals an older relative’s needs are more serious than they realized.
“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
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Access and Outcomes Remain Unclear
The source report describes the profession, services and fees, but does not establish how often families use care managers or whether the service improves health outcomes, reduces overall costs or prevents crises. It mentions a 2025 survey commissioned by the Aging Life Care Association, but the provided source material ends before giving the survey’s results. Those findings cannot be assessed here.
Rates and availability differ by location, and the report does not provide a national estimate of how many practitioners serve families or how many communities offer sliding-scale support. Families also need to assess an individual manager’s credentials, fees and scope of work. The association’s ethical rules are described in the report, but it does not detail how compliance is monitored or what recourse clients have in a dispute.
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Families Can Check Local Options
The report does not identify a policy change or a scheduled next milestone. For families exploring the service, the Aging Life Care Association is a potential starting point for finding professionals. Before hiring, families can ask about training and certification, hourly rates, billing increments, availability, services offered and any relationships with providers. They can also ask how the manager handles referrals and confirms that recommendations fit the client’s needs.
Whether more families learn about the profession will depend in part on how care managers and community organizations share information before a crisis. The immediate practical issue remains local: what services are available, what they cost and whether they fit a family’s needs. The report does not say whether awareness or access will change.
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Key Questions
What does an aging life care manager do?
An aging life care manager coordinates support for older adults. Tasks can include arranging a move, helping with insurance paperwork, accompanying a client to appointments, recommending local services and checking in on care.
How much do aging life care managers charge?
The Aging Life Care Association’s chief executive told KFF Health News that members’ hourly rates range from $150 to $350, with substantial geographic variation. The report cites examples of $185 an hour in Central Texas and $210 in the Washington area.
Are care managers the same as senior living referral services?
Not necessarily. The report says aging life care managers work for the client and the family paying them, and the association’s ethics code prohibits referral fees. Some senior living referral companies receive fees from facilities for directing prospective residents.
When might a family contact an aging life care manager?
Families may contact one when an older relative’s needs become difficult to coordinate, such as after a hospital stay, a change in health or a planned move to assisted living or memory care. The report says many people learn about the service during a crisis.
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