Florida Medicaid Program for Assisted Living

🏥 What It Covers

Under Florida’s Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care (SMMC LTC) program (an HCBS waiver), eligible seniors can receive:

• Assistive Care Services in an Assisted Living Facility (ALF), including:

  • Help with Activities of Daily Living (bathing, dressing, eating)

  • Medication administration

  • Instrumental ADLs (like meal prep, housekeeping) ahca.myflorida.com+15ahca.myflorida.com+15reddit.com+15ahca.myflorida.com+5ahca.myflorida.com+5sunboundhomes.com+5medicaidlongtermcare.orgassistedliving.org

• Other services such as adult day care, nursing care, therapies, transportation, and care coordination

What it does not cover: the cost of room and board at the ALF—that must be paid separately

Many facilities that accept Medicaid will accept about $1,300 to $1,500/month from Medicaid toward the personal care portion, and the resident or family often pays the remainder ahca.myflorida.com+11elderneedslaw.com+11reddit.com+11.

✅ Eligibility Requirements

1. Nursing‑Home Level of Care
   You must be assessed by CARES (Comprehensive Assessment and Review for Long-term Care) and determined to require a nursing-home level of care—even if staying in an ALF medicaidlongtermcare.org+3nolo.com+3assistedliving.org+3.

2. Financial Eligibility

   • Assets: ≤ $2,000 for single applicants. If married, different rules apply based on spouse’s assets en.wikipedia.org+7medicaidplanningassistance.org+7sunboundhomes.com+7.

   • Income: For the SMMC LTC waiver, the income limit is about $2,901/month (for 2025); approximately $2,250/month for ALF eligibility (300 % of the FBR) reddit.com+14medicaidplanningassistance.org+14medicaidlongtermcare.org+14.

3. Enrollment Availability
   This waiver is not an entitlement—there’s a capped number of spots and often a waitlist reddit.com+8assistedliving.org+8medicaidlongtermcare.org+8.

📌 What to Do Next

1. Call CARES via Florida’s Elder Helpline or your local Area Agency on Aging to start the nursing‑home level‑of‑care assessment.

2. Apply for the SMMC LTC waiver and ask to be placed on the waiver waitlist for ALF services.

3. Find participating ALFs that accept Medicaid. Many have additional private-pay slots before transfer eligibility elderneedslaw.com+5reddit.com+5reddit.com+5reddit.com+4reddit.com+4ahca.myflorida.com+4.

4. Plan for the cost gap: Medicaid covers care services but not housing—expect to cover the difference via other income or family support.

🧭 Summary at a Glance

🗣️ Community Insight

From a Florida family’s experience on Reddit:

“We have her on the Medicaid waitlist, … We were overwhelmed to find out how few [ALFs] take Medicaid … The few that do have very long waitlists.” reddit.com+5sunboundhomes.com+5assistedliving.org+5medicaidlongtermcare.orgahca.myflorida.comnolo.comreddit.com+1assistedliving.org+1reddit.com

Another adds:

“Contact the Elder Helpline … It can take up to 18 months for someone to be approved.” reddit.com+1reddit.com+1

🛠️ What You Can Do Now

• Start the CARES assessment ASAP to confirm level‑of‑care eligibility.

• Apply and ask to be placed on the waiver waitlist.

• Identify ALFs in your area that accept Medicaid participants.

• Budget for the remaining cost—housing is separate.

• Optionally, consider VA Aid & Attendance or private care to help cover expenses.