Most Maryland families pay for assisted living privately, from income, savings and the value of a home, because Medicare does not pay for it. Long-term care insurance, VA Aid and Attendance and Maryland's SOAR program can each cover part of the cost for families who qualify, and each takes weeks or months to arrive. In the 2025 Cost of Care Survey, the median cost of assisted living in Maryland was $7,172 a month.
In this guide
For most families, the money conversation happens at the kitchen table, late, with a pad of paper and numbers that do not add up the way they hoped. Underneath it is one simple question. How long can we make this work?
This guide is here to help you answer it. It covers how to pay for assisted living in Maryland: what care costs here, the ways families usually pay, and what to look into if the money might run short. Most of what you will find online is written for the whole country, so I kept this one to Maryland and Anne Arundel County.
It is general information, not financial or legal advice. For each program below, the people who run it have the final word on who qualifies, and I have linked to them. The figures are current as of September 2026, and we update this page every year.
Cost of Assisted Living in Maryland
Assisted living in Maryland had a median cost of $7,172 a month, or $86,070 a year, in the 2025 Cost of Care Survey that CareScout, a Genworth company, runs every year. That makes Maryland the 12th most expensive state for assisted living. The national median was $6,200 a month.
Before you plan how to pay, it helps to know the real number.
| Type of care | Maryland Monthly | US Monthly | What that buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assisted living | Maryland Monthly$7,172 | US Monthly$6,200 | What that buysA private one-bedroom, with personal care that ranges from basic to substantial |
| Care at home | Maryland Monthly$6,673 | US Monthly$6,673 | What that buysA non-medical caregiver for 44 hours a week at $35 an hour, about 26 percent of the hours in a week |
| Adult day health care | Maryland Monthly$2,526 | US Monthly$2,058 | What that buysDaytime care at a center, five weekdays |
| Nursing home, shared room | Maryland Monthly$12,927 | US Monthly$9,581 | What that buysSkilled nursing care around the clock in a semi-private room |
| Nursing home, private room | Maryland Monthly$14,448 | US Monthly$10,798 | What that buysSkilled nursing care around the clock in a private room |
2025 medians from CareScout's median cost tables. Care at home assumes 44 hours a week, and the hourly rate is $35 in Maryland and nationally, which is why those two figures match. Adult day health care assumes five days a week.
Maryland vs. National Costs, 2023 to 2025
Maryland is still more expensive than the national median, but the gap has narrowed, from 29 percent in 2023 to 16 percent in 2025. Maryland prices rose more slowly than prices nationally.
| Survey year | Maryland Monthly | US Monthly | Maryland above the national median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Maryland Monthly$6,900 | US Monthly$5,350 | Maryland above the national median29 percent |
| 2024 | Maryland Monthly$7,082 | US Monthly$5,900 | Maryland above the national median20 percent |
| 2025 | Maryland Monthly$7,172 | US Monthly$6,200 | Maryland above the national median16 percent |
A median is only the middle of a wide spread, from small homes to large campuses. The survey also does not price memory care on its own, so if memory care is what you need, treat the assisted living figure as a starting point.
Care at home is worth a second look. At Maryland rates, 44 hours a week of help at home costs within a few hundred dollars a month of assisted living, and that covers roughly a quarter of the week. Our article on the cost of assisted living compared with home care works through that math.
For reference, HeartHomes publishes its rates. Our assisted living runs $5,500 to $7,800 a month and memory care $6,200 to $8,300. The rate is all-inclusive, with no added charges for levels of care, plus a one-time $3,750 community fee at move-in. If these numbers feel out of reach, that worry is one of the things covered in our article on assisted living myths.
How Do Most Families Pay for Assisted Living?
Most families pay for assisted living privately. Monthly income such as Social Security and a pension covers part of the bill, and savings, investments or the value of a home cover the rest. Long-term care insurance, VA benefits and Maryland's SOAR program can each pay a share for families who qualify, but none of them pays the whole cost.
So the first layer is almost always the family's own money, and it usually comes from several places at once.
- Monthly income comes first: Social Security, a pension, withdrawals from a retirement account. For most families this covers part of the monthly cost, not all of it.
- Savings and investments fill the gap between that income and the monthly rate.
- The house is often the largest thing a family owns. Selling it can pay for years of care. Renting it out can cover a good share of each month while keeping it in the family.
- Family contributions are common and rarely discussed. If brothers and sisters are sharing the cost, write down who pays what. It saves a great deal of hurt later.
Does Medicare Pay for Assisted Living?
No. Medicare does not pay for long-term care, and the daily help with bathing, dressing and meals that assisted living provides is long-term care. A Medigap supplement policy does not cover it either. Medicare does still cover your parent's medical care while they live in assisted living, including doctor visits, home health visits and hospice, and prescriptions if they are enrolled in a Part D plan.
Medicare and Medicaid are easy to mix up. Medicaid is a separate program for people with very limited income and assets, and in Maryland it can pay for assisted living services at communities enrolled in its waiver. That is covered under Maryland programs below.
Does Long-Term Care Insurance Cover Assisted Living?
Many long-term care insurance policies cover assisted living, but only once the policy's benefit trigger is met and its elimination period has passed, and only up to the daily limit it was bought with. Whether your parent's policy does depends on its wording, so the four parts below are the ones to find in the paperwork.
HeartHomes accepts long-term care insurance policies. What a policy pays is decided by the insurer, though, so it helps to read it well before the week you need it. If your parent bought one years ago, now is a good time to find it.
The benefit trigger
- Most policies start paying when a person needs help with two or more of six activities of daily living, such as bathing and dressing, or has a cognitive impairment. That is the benefit trigger most policies use.
- What to ask the insurer: What exactly has to be documented to meet the trigger, and who does the assessment?
The elimination period
- This is a waiting period, a deductible measured in days instead of dollars. Most policies let the buyer choose 30, 60 or 90 days when the policy was bought, and your family pays for care in the meantime.
The daily benefit and the lifetime maximum
- Most policies pay care costs up to a set daily limit until a lifetime maximum is used up. Divide the community's monthly rate by 30 and compare it with the daily limit. The difference is what your family covers each day.
- What to ask the insurer: What is the daily benefit today, including any inflation increases added since the policy was bought, and how much of the lifetime maximum is left?
Where care is covered, and how the money moves
- Check that the policy names assisted living, and memory care if that is what you need, as a covered setting.
- What to ask the insurer: Do you pay the community directly, or reimburse the family after each bill?
Does the VA Pay for Assisted Living?
The VA benefit that most often helps with assisted living is Aid and Attendance, a monthly amount added to a VA pension for veterans and surviving spouses who need another person's help with daily activities. It is paid to the veteran or surviving spouse, who decides how to spend it, including on assisted living.
Because it is added to the pension, your parent has to qualify for the VA pension first. The pension is for veterans with wartime service, and the service rules are specific about dates and length of service, so check them before anything else. There are also income and net worth limits, and the net worth limit is currently $163,699. Care costs can lower the income VA counts, so ask an accredited representative before deciding your parent's income is too high.
The home your parent lives in does not count toward VA's net worth limit, but the money from selling it does. And VA looks back three years at anything given away or sold for less than it was worth. If that transfer would have put your parent over the limit, VA can impose a penalty period of up to five years with no pension. Talk to an accredited representative before you transfer anything.
| Who is receiving it | Maximum a year | About a month |
|---|---|---|
| A veteran with no dependents | Maximum a year$29,093 | About a month$2,424 |
| A veteran with one dependent | Maximum a year$34,488 | About a month$2,874 |
| A surviving spouse with no dependents | Maximum a year$18,697 | About a month$1,558 |
Maximum annual pension rates with Aid and Attendance from VA's veterans pension rates and survivors pension rates pages, in effect from December 1, 2025. They change every December. These are maximums: VA subtracts countable income, so the actual payment is usually lower.
How to Apply for VA Aid and Attendance
Start by submitting an intent to file. It sets the date benefits can start from, and you then have a year to finish the full application, with a medical examiner completing VA Form 21-2680. VA does not promise a processing time, so plan for a wait, but an approved claim can be paid back to your intent-to-file date.
An accredited Veterans Service Organization representative can help with the forms. If there is any chance your parent qualifies, it is worth applying.
Does Maryland Help Pay for Assisted Living?
Maryland can help, for people with limited income and assets. Its main program, SOAR, can pay part of the monthly fee at an approved assisted living community. Maryland Medicaid's Community Options Waiver also covers assisted living services, but only at communities enrolled as waiver providers, and it has a waitlist.
On July 1, 2026, Maryland folded Senior Care, the Senior Assisted Living Subsidy and Congregate Housing into one program, Supporting Older Adults with Resources, or SOAR. If you read about the Senior Assisted Living Subsidy, SOAR is where that help lives now.
SOAR is for Marylanders 62 and older who need help with daily activities, whose income is below 60 percent of the state median, and whose assets are under the program's limits. For someone in assisted living it can pay part of the monthly fee. It runs on state grant money, so what is available depends on each year's funding. The county decides who qualifies, so ask them rather than guess.
The county Department of Aging and Disabilities runs SOAR here. To request an application, call 410-222-4257. The county does not publish a dollar amount for the assisted living subsidy, so ask what is available now. Outside Anne Arundel, every county's Area Agency on Aging runs the program, and Maryland Access Point will connect you to yours at 1-844-627-5465.
The subsidy only helps at a community that takes part in SOAR, so ask each one you are considering. HeartHomes takes part in SOAR.
Maryland Medicaid and the Community Options Waiver
The waiver can pay for assisted living services, but only at communities enrolled as waiver providers, and there is a waitlist. Maryland Access Point can tell you where to start.
I would rather say this plainly than have you find out halfway through a tour: HeartHomes does not accept Medicaid. If the waiver is your family's plan, ask each community whether it is enrolled before you visit.
Assisted Living Payment Options Compared
Every source above moves at its own speed, and speed matters more than most families expect. Your own money is there the day you need it. Nearly everything else takes weeks or months. That is why it helps to start the slower applications while savings are still covering the bill, not after.
| Source | Who it suits | What it can cover | How fast it arrives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income, savings and family | Who it suitsAlmost every family; it is the base layer | What it can coverWhatever it adds up to | How fast it arrivesRight away |
| Selling or renting a home | Who it suitsFamilies with a house nobody will live in again | What it can coverOften years of care from a sale, or part of each month from rent | How fast it arrivesMonths, so plan to cover the wait from savings or family help |
| Long-term care insurance | Who it suitsAnyone who already holds a policy | What it can coverUp to the policy's daily limit, until its lifetime maximum | How fast it arrivesAfter the elimination period, commonly 30 to 90 days, plus the insurer's review |
| VA Aid and Attendance | Who it suitsVeterans and surviving spouses who qualify for a VA pension and need daily help | What it can coverUp to about $2,424 a month for a veteran with no dependents, less countable income | How fast it arrivesNo published timeline; approved benefits can reach back to your intent to file |
| SOAR | Who it suitsMarylanders 62 and older with limited income and assets | What it can coverPart of the monthly fee at an approved community | How fast it arrivesNo published timeline; depends on assessment and each year's funding |
| Medicaid waiver | Who it suitsPeople who need nursing home level care, with very limited income and assets | What it can coverAssisted living services at an enrolled community | How fast it arrivesA waitlist; you apply when invited |
| Medicare | Who it suitsNot a source for assisted living | What it can coverDoes not pay for it | How fast it arrivesNot applicable |
The Cost of Care Worksheet. Free, no strings.
A two-page printable for the kitchen table. Add up income, savings and the monthly cost of care, see the gap and how long the money lasts, with room for two scenarios side by side. Page two lists what each way of paying needs and the questions to ask about cost.
No email required for the download. If you have a question about our rates or what they include, send it to us.
What If You Can No Longer Afford Assisted Living?
If the money runs short, the options depend on what was started in time: a VA or SOAR application, help from family, or a move to a community that takes the Medicaid waiver. Each community's contract spells out what happens then, so working out early how long the money lasts is what keeps your options open.
It is worth asking early: what happens if your mother outlives the money? Costs go up, and people often live longer than a plan allowed for. That is common, and it does not mean anything was done wrong.
Start by working out how long you have. The math is simpler than it sounds.
Say care costs $7,172 a month, the Maryland median, and your mother's income is $3,000. The gap is $4,172 a month. With $250,000 in savings, that is about 60 months, or five years. Rates go up over time, so plan on the money lasting a little less than this.
If the runway is shorter than you hoped, you have the most choices while it is still long enough to use them. Look again at the house, reading the VA note above before you sell or give anything away. Have the family conversation about contributions before anyone is in a hurry, and if your parent has not yet agreed to a move at all, start with how to talk to your aging parent about senior living.
Before you sign anything, ask each community what its contract says happens when a resident can no longer pay, and how much notice is given. And if you ever face a discharge you believe is unfair, the Maryland Long-Term Care Ombudsman is an independent advocate for residents and families.
If this worry is keeping you up, you are not the first. Our article on what families worry about most when choosing care may help, and the worksheet is a good place to start.
Questions to Ask a Community About Cost
Rate sheets are hard to compare, because communities price care in different ways. A few plain questions get you to the number that matters: what your parent would pay each month, and what could change it. They are on page two of the worksheet as well.
| Area | What to ask |
|---|---|
| The monthly rate | What to ask
Is the rate all-inclusive, or a base rate with care levels added on?
What costs extra, if anything?
|
| Increases | What to ask
How much notice is given before a rate goes up?
What would move a resident to a higher rate?
|
| One-time fees | What to ask
What does the community fee cover, and is any of it refundable?
|
| Paying for it | What to ask
Do you accept long-term care insurance?
Do you take part in SOAR?
|
| If money runs low | What to ask
What does the contract say happens if a resident can no longer pay, and how much notice is given?
|
At HeartHomes the monthly rate is all-inclusive, with no added charges for levels of care, and it is published on each community's page, for Bay Ridge in Annapolis, Pasadena and Piney Orchard in Odenton. If you are also comparing communities on more than price, our guides to choosing assisted living and choosing memory care cover the rest.
Maryland Resources for Families
The people who run these programs have the final word on who qualifies. These are the places to check, and to get help that is not attached to any community.
- Supporting Older Adults with Resources (SOAR): the Maryland Department of Aging's page for SOAR, who qualifies and how to reach your county.
- Anne Arundel County SOAR: applications by phone at 410-222-4257.
- Maryland Access Point: Maryland's free front door to long-term services and supports, including options counseling and the Medicaid waiver registry, at 1-844-627-5465.
- VA Aid and Attendance: eligibility and how to apply, with the current pension rates.
- LongTermCare.gov: plain explanations of how long-term care insurance works and what triggers benefits.
- Medicare long-term care coverage: what Medicare does and does not pay for.
- Maryland Long-Term Care Ombudsman: an independent advocate for residents and families, including when you have a concern about a community.
- CareScout Cost of Care Survey: look up current median costs for any state or region.
Questions Families Ask
What is the average cost of assisted living in Maryland?
Is assisted living cheaper than a nursing home?
What is cheaper than assisted living?
How much will long-term care insurance pay for assisted living?
Will Medicare pay for memory care?
How do families pay for memory care?
What is SOAR in Maryland?
Can an assisted living community ask a resident to leave if they run out of money?
Not sure where to start?
No pressure and no sales script. We are happy to answer questions about HeartHomes and what our rates include, even if we are not the right fit.