Where to start › Kind of care › Residential care
Assisted living & personal care homes
This is the middle ground: a place that provides housing, meals, help with daily tasks, and people around — without the intensive medical staffing of a nursing home. It goes by different names, and the differences matter for both care and cost.
The two common types
Assisted living communities are typically larger, apartment-style settings. Personal care homes (the name varies by state — sometimes "residential care" or "adult care homes") are often smaller, more home-like, and can be much less expensive. Both offer meals, help with bathing and dressing, medication reminders, and 24-hour staff on site. Our guide Personal care home vs. assisted living walks through the trade-offs in plain language.
When you're choosing a specific place, our directory lets you see the public safety and inspection record for licensed facilities — the same information regulators see.
How it's paid for
Medicare does not pay the rent at an assisted living community or personal care home — it isn't designed for long-term housing or custodial care (who pays for care explains why). Most people pay privately at first. Medicaid will, in many states, help pay for the care portion in these settings through a waiver program — but generally not the room-and-board portion, and only at facilities that accept the waiver. Whether your state does this, and which homes participate, varies.
Where the public record stops — and who to ask
Will Medicaid help pay for assisted living or a personal care home in your state? That answer depends on your state and your situation, and it belongs to the people who decide it — not to us. Here is who has it, and exactly what to ask so you arrive prepared instead of lost.
Who to ask: your state Medicaid office / Area Agency on Aging (via the Eldercare Locator, 1-800-677-1116).
What to ask them:
- Does my state's Medicaid program help pay for care in assisted living or a personal care home?
- If so, which local facilities accept the waiver, and is there a waitlist?
- What does the waiver cover, and what would we still pay out of pocket for room and board?
- How is 'level of care' assessed to qualify?
You now know more than most people who walk into that office. That is the whole point of this page.
Who helps you locally — free, and on your side. You do not have to figure this out alone. Your Area Agency on Aging gives free options counseling; reach any of them through the federal Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 or eldercare.acl.gov (Administration for Community Living). More on the four people who help — and what each one does — on Who helps me locally.