In short
Medicare does not pay for assisted living, memory care, or long-term help at home. It covers short rehab stays and some home health visits. The public program that pays for most long-term care is Medicaid, and it pays fully only for people who meet state income and asset limits. Most families fill the gap with a mix of savings, the house, veterans benefits if a wartime veteran is involved, and long-term care insurance. Tell us what's going on and we'll tell you which of these apply.
What care actually costs
Before the programs, the price tags. These are national medians from the 2025 Cost of Care Survey, which is the survey the industry uses. Your parent's city will run higher or lower, but this is the scale of the numbers you're planning around.
| Type of care | National median, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Non-medical care at home (helper for bathing, meals, companionship) | $35 an hour, about $6,673 a month at 44 hours a week |
| Adult day health care | $95 a day, about $2,058 a month |
| Assisted living (private one-bedroom) | $6,200 a month |
| Nursing home | $9,581 a month, semi-private room; $10,798 private |
Home care looks cheap by the hour and gets expensive by the week—40 hours a week of help costs about what assisted living does. That's the single most useful comparison in this whole article, and it's why families often land on a community when the need is daily rather than occasional.
Not sure which of these you're looking at?
Describe what's happening and we'll tell you what kind of care fits, and what it tends to cost where your parent lives.
What Medicare pays (and doesn't)
This is where most families get a painful surprise, so let's say it plainly. Medicare does not cover what's called custodial care—help with bathing, dressing, and eating—if that's the only care needed. That's true whether your parent is at home, in assisted living, or in a nursing home. Long-term care is non-medical care, and Medicare and most health insurance simply don't pay for it.
Medicare does cover two things worth knowing:
- Short-term skilled nursing or rehab after a hospital stay. If your parent has Part A, spent at least three consecutive days in the hospital as an inpatient, and is admitted to a Medicare-certified facility within 30 days of discharge, Medicare covers up to 100 days per benefit period. In 2026 you pay the $1,736 Part A deductible, then $0 a day for days 1 to 20 and $217 a day of coinsurance for days 21 to 100. After day 100 you pay everything. Some Medigap policies cover the day 21-to-100 share.
- Part-time home health. Medicare covers skilled nursing and therapy at home, plus some aide help, but only if the care is part-time or intermittent and your parent is essentially homebound and under a doctor's care. It does not cover full-time help.
Medicaid, the biggest payer most families never plan for
Across the country, Medicaid is the primary payer for long-term care. That surprises people, because they think of it as health care for the very poor. It pays for nursing home care, and in most states for some in-home and community-based care, for people who meet the income and asset rules.
Here's the catch: the rules are set by each state, within federal limits, and they're strict. Eligibility generally means your parent has spent down most savings to the state's asset limit, and there are rules about giving money or property away in the years before applying. That's exactly the kind of thing an elder law attorney handles, and it's worth a conversation well before a crisis.
Veterans benefits: Aid and Attendance
If a wartime veteran or their surviving spouse needs daily help, the VA has a benefit most families have never heard of: Aid and Attendance, an add-on to a VA pension. For 2026, a veteran with no dependents who qualifies receives a maximum of $29,093 a year (about $2,424 a month); with one dependent, up to $34,488 a year. Housebound benefits are a smaller add-on, $21,313 a year for a veteran with no dependents.
To qualify, your parent generally needs to need another person's help with daily activities like bathing, dressing, and eating—or to be bedbound, or in a nursing home because of disability, or to have very limited vision. It's income-tested, and the VA looks at net worth, which for 2026 is capped at $163,699. Unreimbursed medical expenses can reduce countable income.
Accredited representatives—through a Veterans Service Organization or the state—file these claims for free. You should never pay someone to "apply for VA benefits" for you.
Insurance, the house, and family
Where to start, in order
- Find out what's needed, not just what's wanted. A doctor's evaluation is often the missing piece; it tells you whether this is a housekeeping problem, a daily-care problem, or a medical one.
- Get the real local numbers. National medians are the scale; your parent's city is the price. We can give you local ranges in one call.
- Check the two public programs. Medicaid rules for your parent's state, and whether anyone involved served in wartime (that opens the VA benefit).
- Find the paperwork. The old long-term care policy, the deed, power of attorney, and any health care directive. Doing this while things are calm is a gift to your future self.
- Talk to an elder law attorney before any large transfer of money or property, if Medicaid is likely to matter.
Questions families ask
Does Medicare pay for assisted living or memory care?
No. Assisted living and memory care are custodial care and housing, which Medicare doesn't cover. It pays for short rehab stays in a nursing home after a hospital stay and some part-time home health, and that's essentially the limit.
Will Medicaid pay for my mother's care?
Maybe. Medicaid is the main public payer for long-term care, but eligibility is set by each state and generally requires spending down most assets to a limit. The rules are complicated enough that an elder law attorney is worth it. Start by calling the Area Agency on Aging for her ZIP code—the Eldercare Locator, 1-800-677-1116, will connect you.
Is the VA benefit real, or is it a scam I've heard about?
The benefit is real—Aid and Attendance is an official VA pension add-on. What's a scam is anyone charging you a fee to file for it, or pushing you to move assets to qualify. Accredited representatives file VA claims for free; get help through a Veterans Service Organization or your state's veterans office.
Can we use the house to pay for care?
Often, yes—by selling or, in some cases, renting it. But the timing interacts with Medicaid rules about the home, so get advice before you act, especially if you're hoping to qualify for Medicaid later.
What if we can't afford any of it?
That's a real situation and you're not alone in it. The paths that open up are Medicaid (if limits are met), veterans benefits (if a wartime veteran is involved), a lower-cost option like adult day care or part-time home care instead of full residential care, and local programs through the Area Agency on Aging. Call us and we'll sort out which of those is realistic.
Sources: CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey 2025, carescout.com/cost-of-care; Medicare.gov (Long-term care; Nursing home care; Home health services); CMS 2026 Medicare deductible and coinsurance rates (cms.gov); Medicaid.gov, Long-Term Services and Supports; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (Aid and Attendance; Veterans Pension rates, effective December 1, 2025). Retrieved October 8, 2026.