Does Medicare pay for assisted living care?
No, Medicare doesn't pay at all for assisted living. Medicare coverage for long-term careof any sort is very limited, covering only short-term stays in a skilled nursing or rehabilitation facility while someone recovers from an illness, injury, or surgery. Medicare doesn't pay at all for what's called "custodial" -- meaning non-medical -- residential care in a nursing home or assisted living facility.
In some states, though, Medicaid can pay for assisted living in certain participating facilities. If the state Medicaid program where your parents live does cover some assisted living, you would have to find an assisted living facility that participates in Medicaid. But all this depends on whether your mother would qualify for Medicaid, which she can do only if your parents have low income and assets (other than their home). To see about the Medicaid eligibility rules for assisted living in the state where they live, you can go to the Medicaid information page at the federal government's Govbenefits web page.
I heard that medicare covers inpatient respite care for up to 5days with a terminal illness which is certainly alzheimers. Is this true??What a help this would be for us caregivers. Thanks
actually, it is NOT true that Medicare never pays for assisted living.
i had a small assisted living in arizona up to two years ago and i can assure you that in arizona -- and i believe in a number of other states also -- care home owners and big facilities could make contracts of agreement to accept Medicare residents for longterm care. In my five-bed home, i had three folks paid for by Medicare -- which is activated via the Arizona state Medicare partner, ALTEX. two of my folks stayed with me for 2 years and that other for three and a half years.
the drawback is that not all places will make such a contract -- Medicare pays at least a thousand a month less than private pay, which is a big loss in income for a small home. But there we are. they were great people and i loved them.
so, you should check more fully with your own state to find out if they do partner with Medicare to cover longterm care, because they might well do so.
Also, these days increasing numbers of states are beginning to put into action a payment to family caregivers, to help them stay home to care for a family member. sometimes that can make all the difference in keeping someone home. It's usually at least $1,000 monthly. Again, check with your state health system. Start with your local senior center and/or local Area Agency on Aging -- they have all the data.
Good luck!
Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS) is actually a Medicaid--not Medicare--program, so I think the prior post was incorrect in stating that Medicare covered long-term care.
