Des Moines Senior AdvisorHow does Des Moines Senior Advisor source its facts?
Every rule we describe is tied to the text of Iowa Code chapter 231C, 481 IAC chapters 67, 69 or 58, or the Iowa HHS rule or page it came from, and every number traces to one named publication: CareScout's March 2026 Iowa cost release, 441 IAC chapter 83 for the Elderly Waiver, the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates and the VA's current pension tables.
These are the documents we work from, in the order families most often need them:
- Iowa Code chapter 231C, Assisted Living Programs (2026)
- 481 IAC chapter 69, Assisted Living Programs (IAC 9/30/26)
- 481 IAC chapter 67, General provisions for elder group homes, assisted living programs and adult day services
- 481 IAC chapter 58, Nursing facilities
- DIAL Health Facilities database (Entity, Survey Due and Assessed Fines reports)
- DIAL health facility complaints
- Iowa Data Hub: Assisted Living Programs in Iowa (dataset 562)
- 441 IAC chapter 83, HCBS waivers including the Elderly Waiver (eff. July 1, 2026)
- Iowa HHS HOME waiver redesign FAQ
- Iowa HHS PACE program page
- Iowa HHS Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman
- Aging Resources of Central Iowa (Iowa HHS listing)
- CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, Iowa
- CMS Care Compare Provider Information
- VA Veterans Pension rates
- U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimates
What will Des Moines Senior Advisor not publish?
Nothing that lacks a primary record behind it: no made-up averages, no facility claims missing from DIAL or CMS data, no testimonials or reviews, and no ratings of our own invention.
- No Des Moines price median; the only published Iowa cost figures are statewide.
- No memory care price median; nobody surveys one.
- No grade or ranking for assisted living programs; neither DIAL nor CMS rates them, and a home-made score would mislead.
- No amenities or prices lifted from operator marketing.
When is the directory rebuilt?
Each rebuild pulls DIAL's current Entity, Survey Due and Assessed Fines reports (the version on the site was run November 6, 2026) and the CMS nursing home file dated October 1, 2026; the fetch script can be rerun at any time.
Listing pages print their data date in the source line. The sitemap's last-modified date for a page moves only when that page's text actually changes, not on every rebuild.
How do star ratings and state fines appear on the site?
Nursing home stars are shown only where CMS publishes them, in CMS's own terms and with CMS's data date, and state fines are reproduced from DIAL's Assessed Fines Report with the visit exit date, enforcement number and the amounts issued, adjusted, suspended and owed.
When a facility page says a home staffs above or below the metro median, or that a program is larger than the typical one here, that is simple arithmetic on the published figures, and the page names the comparison group.
What happens when someone spots an error on the site?
Send the page address and the problem to advisors@desmoinessenioradvisor.com. Errors in how we display a record are ours to fix; if the underlying DIAL or CMS record itself is wrong, it has to be corrected by that agency, and we will say which office handles it.
Benefit figures such as the Elderly Waiver income cap or VA pension rates change on fixed schedules. When one changes, the new number is checked against the agency's own rule or table, the reference page that owns it is updated first, and the guides that quote it follow.
