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How to Pay for Nursing Home Care with Social Security
Date Updated: October 16, 2024
Written by:
Matt Whittle is a freelance writer and editor who has worked with higher education, health, and lifestyle content for eight years. His work has been featured in Forbes, Sleep.org, and Psychology.org. Matt has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Penn State University.
Matt brings experience taking complicated topics and simplifying them for readers of all ages. With Caring, he hopes to assist seniors in navigating the systems in place to receive the care they need and deserve. Matt is also a freelance composer — you may have heard his work in global online ad campaigns for various products.
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Victoria Lurie is a copy editor, writer, and content manager. She started in legacy media, progressing from there to higher education, reviews, and health care news. During the course of her career, Victoria has corrected grammar on hundreds of domains (and the occasional subway wall). She has a BA in Writing from Christopher Newport University.
Victoria is passionate about making information accessible. She lets the math scare her so it doesn’t scare you. When it comes to caregiving, Victoria's experience is mostly product-centric: hoyer lifts, blood pressure cuffs, traction stickers. But she’s dabbled in estate planning and long-distance care, and hopes to use her experience to make that path smoother for others.
Reviewed by:
Gene Altaffer has a Masters in Gerontology from the University of Southern California and has worked in many avenues along the continuum of long-term care, assisting thousands of clients and their families since 1995. He also sold long-term care insurance from numerous carriers while also assisting families with retirement planning. Gene helps seniors navigate their Medicare plans, ensuring they understand their benefits and options.
Nursing home care plays a vital role in the everyday lives of older Americans, though it can create a significant financial burden. Fortunately, there are several services available to help lower the overall cost of services like assisted-living and nursing home care, including Social Security. The amount that Social Security will pay for nursing home care will vary based on each recipient's work history and care facility, however.
Key Takeaways
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What are Social Security benefits?
Social Security provides monthly payments to individuals based on the amount they have worked and contributed to the program throughout their lives. The Social Security Administration (SSA) reports that it typically does not fully replace a person's income, which plays into some senior’s decisions to return to the workforce after retirement. The SSA recommends seniors research additional forms of funding to cover living expenses that occur amid aging. The following section explores the various types of Social Security:
- Retirement: Social Security will provide benefits to people ages 62 and older, so long as they have had jobs and paid Social Security taxes for a minimum of 10 years.
- Disability: People with disabilities — including blindness — restricting their ability to work for a minimum for a year, can receive monthly Social Security payments. Typically, they must have worked for a minimum of five of the last 10 years to qualify.
- Survivor: Individuals can receive social security benefits if they are the current or former spouse, dependent parent, or child of someone who paid into the Social Security program while working. Requirements vary based on the beneficiary type, but recipients must be 50-62 years old. This number is affected by disability.
- Family: Children, spouses, and former spouses of people who receive Social Security benefits can qualify for payments. Partners must be age 62 or older and have been married for a minimum of one year. This age limit is removed if the spouse cares for a child.
How to Use Social Security Benefits to Pay for Nursing Home Care
Social Security arrives via direct deposit once each month, which is when a nursing home can take your social security check for payment. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that your monthly Social Security payment will cover costs related to your time in a memory care facility or nursing home. As of 2023, Genworth reports a median monthly cost of $8,669 for a shared room, and Social Security pays an average of $1,837 each month to older individuals.
Social Security vs. Supplemental Security Income
Though Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) share some similarities — including monthly payments and a single, unified application form for both funding sources — the two programs differ in some important ways.
To receive Social Security benefits, you must have paid into the program by working and paying its associated taxes. SSI, however, is based on income and an additional factor, such as disability or age.
It is possible to receive both Social Security benefits and SSI simultaneously, but in most states, you can receive only up to $30 per month from SSI if you are in nursing home care.
Other Ways to Pay for Senior Care
- Medicaid: Medicaid is a need-based health care coverage program that covers older individuals and other low-income recipients. For nursing home care, Medicaid certifies specific care facilities.
- Department of Veterans Affairs: The VA offers long-term care services for veterans in nursing facilities and their own homes, among other settings. To qualify, seniors must have existing VA health care coverage.
- Life Insurance and Long-Term Care Insurance: Though these policies require recipients to plan ahead of time, long-term care and life insurance can provide funding to cover senior care costs. Generally, the earlier someone purchases insurance, the more coverage they can receive.
- State Health Insurance Assistance Program: SHIP assists people living in senior care with navigating the complexities of Medicare, including assistance programs that can cover out-of-pocket costs.
- Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly: PACE is a state-based program that combines Medicare and Medicaid to cover care-related costs, including nursing home care, for people 55 and older. This page offers information on eligibility by state.
Bottom Line
There are various ways to qualify for Social Security benefits, primarily based on age and disability. If you are considering transferring from an independent living setting into nursing home care, you may be wondering how much your monthly payments can cover living costs. Given current trends in costs for nursing care, your Social Security benefits will likely only cover a portion of nursing care expenses, requiring you to research other funding methods.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
- Benefit types | SSA. (n.d.) Social Security Administration (SSA)
- Cost of Long Term Care by State. (2023). Genworth
- Monthly statistical snapshot, August 2024. (September 2024) Social Security Administration (SSA)
- Nursing facilities | Medicaid. (n.d.) Medicaid.gov
- Social security direct deposit. (n.d.). Social Security Administration
- Social Security in retirement. (n.d.) Social Security Administration
- Spotlight on living arrangements. (n.d.) (September 2024) Social Security Administration (SSA)
- Paying for Long Term Care | National Institute on Aging. (Oct. 12, 2023). National Institute on Aging
- VA nursing homes and assisted living. (May 3, 2024). Veterans Affairs