Assisted Living Facilities in Maryland

A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities in Maryland

What they're called

Official name: Assisted Living Programs

Common name: Assisted living facilities

To compare assisted living to board and care, skilled nursing, and other long-term residential care communities, see Residential Care Options: How to Decide.

What they offer

• Individual living units (from single rooms to multiroom apartments with kitchen)
• All meals, usually in a common dining area
• Medication management
• Personal care services: Assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) such as eating, dressing, and bathing
• Social and exercise activities
• Special care programs for residents with memory loss (most facilities)

Note: Some facilities also offer respite care and other special services.

What they cost

Median monthly fees: $3,300 (higher for residents requiring memory care)

State of Maryland requirements

• A facility may provide a resident with a higher level of care (such as regular skilled nursing) than the facility is licensed for if it obtains a resident-specific waiver from the state.
• Outside home healthcare agencies are permitted to provide care under direct contract with a resident.
• A service plan, based on assessment of a resident's health, function, and psychosocial status, must be made upon admission and after a significant change of condition or nonroutine hospitalization.

State of Maryland oversight

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office of Health Care Quality (410-402-8201) licenses, certifies, and regulates assisted living facilities.

How to resolve problems or offer feedback

• Contact the long-term care ombudsman (a free service) for your local area; go to the Maryland Department of Aging Senior Information and Assistance website page for the phone number of the ombudsman for your area.
• You can file an online complaint with the Maryland Office of Health Care Quality.
• Rate and review assisted living facilities.

How to pay for assisted living in Maryland

• Most assisted living is paid for privately by the resident and/or family.
• For people with low income and assets, a Medicaid-related program places a cap on a facility's charges for room and board and also pays the facility a daily amount for services.
• A Senior Assisted Living Group Home Subsidy (SALGHS) program pays a large share of the cost of assisted living in small group homes of no more than 16 residents. To be eligible for SALGHS, a resident must have income of no more than 60 percent of the statewide median income and no more than $11,000 in assets ($14,00 for a couple). Not all assisted living facilities participate in the Medicaid or SALGHS programs. Those facilities that participate usually limit it to a few living units. To find out more about these programs, see the housing information pages of the official Maryland Department of Aging website or contact the Senior Information and Assistance Office for your county.
• Low-income veterans or surviving spouses of veterans may be eligible for Aid and Attendance or other payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which can help pay for assisted living.
• Some assisted living facilities offer sliding scale fees, making a higher level of care available to families that might not otherwise be able to afford it. Be sure to ask -- or ask a geriatric care manager in the area if he or she knows which facilities offer sliding scale fees.

Help finding and choosing a facility

• Hire a geriatric care manager (most have extensive local knowledge about assisted living facilities in a particular geographic area, including space availability, resident needs assessments, sliding scale fees, and resident satisfaction). To find a geriatric care manager, see Caring.com's Senior Living Directory.
• For details about assisted living facilities in each of the 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, see A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities.