When Sales Goals Replace Care Goals

By Kaitlyn Cunningham Morse, Founder of Maine Aging Partners

For too long, care decisions have been shaped by sales targets—not by what’s best for families. Corporations have figured out how to make elder care profitable without being accountable, and families have paid the price.

One of the most visible examples is the rise of referral platforms like A Place for Mom. These companies don’t just help families—they reshape the entire care economy. By funneling private-pay families into real estate portfolios instead of actual care options, they remove those families from the broader care market.

And when that happens, Medicaid options shrink, middle-income families are left with no good choices, and small providers who center care struggle to stay afloat.

I watched this unfold firsthand around the Plant Home—a mission-driven nonprofit that should have remained a cornerstone in the community. Instead, without financial stability or market protections, it became vulnerable. And what was once a haven for older Mainers started to look like just another asset in a system more interested in cash flow than community.

That’s what I call the real crisis: not just a care gap—but a legitimacy gap.

Because when families don’t know who’s paying for the advice they’re getting...
When providers are forced to play by rules written by marketing firms...
When “choice” is narrowed to whoever pays the most for a referral...

That’s not a system. That’s a pipeline.
And the people it’s meant to serve get lost in it.

I started Maine Aging Partners as a direct response to that.
I don’t take referral fees.
I don’t work for facilities.
I work for families—one decision at a time.

Now, the Senate Aging Committee is asking questions about these referral practices. That’s a good thing. I’ve been asking them, too. Not for headlines. But because the people making these decisions deserve the truth.

If you’re looking for guidance—and not a sales pitch—I’m here.
Let’s take it one step at a time.

Kaitlyn Cunningham Morse
Founder, Maine Aging Partners