While Medicare doesn't cover assisted living, you'll still pay for all services approved under Parts A and B, such as hospitalizations. Although Medicare doesn't cover assisted living, you'll continue to pay for all services approved under Parts A and B, such as hospitalizations, doctor visits, procedures and tests. No, Medicare doesn't pay for assisted living. For residents of assisted living facilities, Medicare support is generally limited to health care-related expenses, such as doctor visits and on-site therapy.
It cannot be used to pay for daily living costs, such as room and board, or to help with activities of daily living (ADL), such as bathing and dressing. For these services, you or your loved one will need to use private payment methods, such as personal savings or retirement funds. Because it's designed to supplement coverage, Medigap doesn't pay for assisted living or other types of long-term care. Original Medicare doesn't cover the cost of assisted living facilities or other long-term custody care, such as nursing homes.
Assisted living communities allow residents to enjoy independence and privacy, but they also include staff to help with daily custody care. Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage don't cover assisted living, nursing homes, or other non-medical custody care. No, Medicare does not pay for a short-term stay in assisted living facilities, since assistance with personal care tasks is not considered medically necessary. Two other states have similar protections for people who use home care provided through managed care plans, and Kansas prohibits assisted living centers from evicting people in any circumstance.
For example, Medicare can help cover your care at an SNF or rehabilitation center if you're recovering from a serious injury, illness, or surgery. Medicare also doesn't cover facilities that provide certain types of limited nursing care, such as nursing homes. Medicare Part A also helps cover a variety of home health care services if they are needed to treat or control a specific health condition. While some families rely on their own money, such as accumulated personal savings, pension plans and retirement accounts, to defray the cost of assisted living, long-term care insurance can also be useful in this case.
And while Medicaid doesn't pay for the room and board costs of assisted living, many states do offer exemption programs to help cover some personal care and other support services provided in an assisted living environment. It's not known what percentage of assisted living facilities receive Medicaid funding or how many states require them to do so, and most states don't require that assisted living facilities accept new residents who are enrolled in Medicaid. It's not known how many assisted living facilities accept Medicaid, but the National Center for Assisted Living estimates that Medicaid pays for the daily services of about 200,000 people (about one in five residents). However, it's important to note that not all assisted living communities offer on-site rehabilitation services. There are several ways to finance the costs of assisted living, from personal savings to Medicaid exemption programs.
