Assisted Living in Washington

Washington Apple Health is the state's Medicaid program. This part of it covers people who are 65 or older, blind, or disabled. It pays for doctor visits, hospital care, prescriptions, and other medical care, and it can help pay Medicare premiums. It does not pay assisted living rent or meals.

Apple Health is also the door to long-term care. Community First Choice and COPES, listed below, pay for care in an assisted living facility or adult family home, and they use higher income limits than the ones in the table.

An Apple Health benefit that pays for personal care, meaning hands-on help with bathing, dressing, eating, using the bathroom, taking medicines, and moving around. You can get it in your own home, an adult family home, or a licensed assisted living facility. In a facility, the staff give the care and DSHS pays the facility for it. The facility must have a Medicaid contract with DSHS.

CFC does not pay room and board. In 2026, a resident on CFC in an assisted living facility or adult family home keeps $108.74 a month for personal needs and pays the facility up to $885.26 a month for room and board from their own income. If income is left over after that, it goes toward the cost of care.

CFC is an entitlement, which means everyone who qualifies can get it.

A Medicaid waiver for people who need nursing home level care but choose to live at home, in an adult family home, or in an assisted living facility. It serves more than 51,000 people. COPES works alongside Community First Choice. It adds services that CFC does not cover, such as nursing visits, skilled nursing, medical equipment and supplies, and training for you and your caregivers.

COPES also opens the door to Apple Health for people whose income is too high for regular Apple Health. In a facility, you keep $108.74 a month for personal needs, pay up to $885.26 a month for room and board, and pay any income left over toward your care. You never pay more than the state's rate for your care.

Washington's public long-term care insurance. Workers in Washington have paid 0.58% of their wages into it since July 2023, unless they are exempt. Benefits became available on July 1, 2026. To use it, you must have paid in long enough and need care. WA Cares then pays your providers directly.

In 2026 the full benefit is $36,500 over your lifetime, and it grows with inflation. You can use it for an assisted living facility, memory care, an adult family home, or care at home, such as a paid family caregiver, home-delivered meals, or home changes. Each service has a maximum rate, and providers can't charge you more. The facility or agency must be a registered WA Cares provider.

Two related programs for people 55 or older who live at home. They mostly support the unpaid family member who gives the care, with help such as respite care, housekeeping and errands, training, support groups, adult day services, and medical equipment and supplies. Under TSOA, a person with no family caregiver can get a small amount of personal care instead.

MAC is for people who already have Apple Health but are not using Medicaid long-term care. TSOA is for people whose income and savings are too high for Apple Health. In 2026, TSOA allows monthly income up to $3,976. The asset limit is $84,354 for a single person and $156,883 if your spouse lives at home.

Both programs have a waitlist. DSHS paused new enrollments on December 1, 2025, because spending was projected to go over budget. You can still ask to be added to the statewide waitlist, which is first come, first served. DSHS has not set a date for enrollment to reopen.

A program that gives frail older adults all of their Medicare and Medicaid care through one team, so they can keep living at home instead of in a nursing home. Care happens at a PACE center and in your home. It covers doctor, dental, and nursing care, prescriptions, adult day health, home and personal care, meals, hospital and nursing home care if needed, and rides to the center and to medical visits.

Washington has nine PACE centers, run by Providence PACE, International Community Health Services (ICHS), and PNW PACE Partners. The centers are in Seattle, Renton, Kent, Redmond, Everett, Tacoma, and Spokane, and each serves certain ZIP codes nearby. PACE also accepts people who pay privately.

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.

Apple Health programs that pay Medicare costs for people with limited income. Washington has no asset test for these programs, so your savings and bank accounts do not count.

Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) pays Part A and Part B premiums, deductibles, and copays, except for prescriptions. Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB) and Qualifying Individual (QI-1) pay the Part B premium. QI-1 help lasts only until the year's federal funds run out. 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.

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.

A small monthly cash payment that Washington adds on top of federal SSI. The state rule, last updated in July 2026, sets it at $33 a month for SSI recipients who are 65 or older, blind, or disabled, and for SSI recipients with a spouse who does not get SSI. DSHS pays it, not Social Security.