Assisted Living in Michigan

Michigan's Medicaid program for people who are 65 or older, blind, or disabled. It pays for doctor visits, hospital care, prescriptions, and nursing home care. It does not pay rent in an adult foster care home or home for the aged. But you need Medicaid to get the MI Choice Waiver or the personal care supplement, which can help pay for your care there.

Michigan has two main ways to qualify. AD-Care is for people living at home or in the community. Its income limit went up on April 1, 2026. Extended-Care has a higher income limit, but it is only for people in a nursing home or enrolled in the MI Choice Waiver. For MI Choice, you cannot get under the income limit by spending down. If you get SSI, you get Medicaid automatically.

If you are married and your spouse stays at home, your spouse can keep $32,532 to $162,660 in savings and up to $4,066.50 a month in income when you get nursing home care or MI Choice services.

A Medicaid program for people who need the level of care a nursing home provides but want to live somewhere else. You can live in your own home, a qualified adult foster care home or home for the aged, or a qualified assisted living community. Local waiver agencies, many of them Area Agencies on Aging, run the program.

In an adult foster care home, home for the aged, or assisted living community, MI Choice can pay for personal care, help with medicines, meals, housekeeping, and 24-hour supervision through a service called Residential Services. It can also pay for nursing, adult day care, respite, medical equipment, and a supports coordinator who plans your care. It does not pay room and board.

The state legislature sets MI Choice funding each year, and each waiver agency has a limited number of slots. There is a waiting list. Young adults aging out of private duty nursing come first, then people leaving a nursing home, then people at risk of entering a nursing home, including people with an open Adult Protective Services case. Everyone else is served in the order they asked.

A health plan for people who have both Medicare and full Medicaid. It started on January 1, 2026, and replaced MI Health Link. One plan covers your Medicare and most Medicaid benefits, and a care coordinator helps plan your care.

If you need the level of care a nursing home provides, the plan's home and community-based services waiver can pay for care in your own home or in a qualified adult foster care home, home for the aged, or assisted living community. It does not pay room and board. Under this waiver, monthly income can be up to $2,982 in 2026.

MICH is only offered in some parts of the state: the Upper Peninsula (except Chippewa, Gogebic, and Menominee counties), Macomb County, Wayne County, and Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren counties.

If you get SSI and live in a licensed adult foster care home or home for the aged, Michigan adds a state supplement to your federal SSI. In 2026 the federal part is $994 a month, and the total depends on the type of home, as shown below. You pay most of it to the home for room, board, and care, and you keep at least $44 a month for personal needs.

Social Security pays the state supplement together with your federal SSI check. The "Paid to the home" column is the most an SSI resident pays the home each month. If your care costs less, or you have other income, you keep more.

If you have Medicaid and live in a licensed adult foster care home or home for the aged, MDHHS can pay the home $250.92 a month toward your personal care. That covers help with bathing, grooming, dressing, moving around, using the toilet, and taking medicine. The state pays the home directly, on top of what you pay from your own income.

It does not pay room and board. You need income, such as SSI or Social Security, to pay that part. Homes are private businesses and each one decides whether to accept residents on Medicaid. MDHHS does not keep a list of homes that do.

A Medicaid program that pays a caregiver to help you in your own home. The caregiver can help with bathing, dressing, eating, using the toilet, and getting around the house. They can also do light housework, laundry, meals, and shopping, and help you take your medicine. You choose the caregiver. It can be a person you pick, other than your spouse, or a home care agency.

Home Help does not pay for supervision, heavy housework, yard work, or rides. There is no set limit on hours. An MDHHS worker decides your hours based on your needs. You cannot get Home Help while enrolled in the MI Choice Waiver.

The federal health insurance program for people 65 and older. Part A covers hospital stays and a short period of skilled nursing care after a hospital stay. Part B covers doctor visits, outpatient care, and medical equipment. Medicare does not pay for assisted living rent or for help with daily tasks like bathing and dressing. In 2026, Part B costs $202.90 a month with a $283 yearly deductible, and the Part A hospital deductible is $1,736.

Plans sold by private insurers that replace Original Medicare. They must cover everything Original Medicare covers, and many add drug, dental, vision, or hearing coverage. Plans, costs, and doctor networks vary by county.

Drug plans that add prescription coverage to Original Medicare. Each plan has its own list of covered drugs and its own premium. Most Medicare Advantage plans already include drug coverage.

A federal program, also called the Part D Low-Income Subsidy, that pays most Part D premiums, deductibles, and drug copays. People who get Medicaid, SSI, or a Medicare Savings Program qualify automatically.

Michigan Medicaid programs that pay Medicare costs for people with limited income. Anyone in QMB, SLMB, or ALMB also qualifies for Extra Help.

Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) pays Medicare premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance. Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB) pays the Part B premium. Additional Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (ALMB), also called Qualifying Individual (QI), pays the Part B premium while funding lasts. The limits below took effect April 1, 2026.

Qualified Disabled and Working Individual (QDWI) pays the Part A premium for people under 65 who lost premium-free Part A after going back to work. It has an asset limit of $4,000 (single) or $6,000 (couple).

Monthly income for retired workers, based on what you earned during your working years. You can spend it on anything, including assisted living. You need at least 40 work credits, which is about 10 years of work. Benefits can start at 62, and the monthly check is larger if you wait until full retirement age or later.

A monthly federal payment for people who are 65 or older, blind, or disabled and have very little income and savings. Getting SSI usually qualifies you for Medicaid as well.