Nursing home, assisted living, and in-home care can cost far more than families expect. The question is not whether care is expensive. It is which dollars pay for it, and when Health First Colorado (Medicaid) can help.
The short answer
What care actually costs
Colorado families use a mix of settings: care at home, assisted living, and skilled nursing. The monthly cost depends on the setting, the county, and how much help is needed. The point is not a single number. It is that private-pay care can use up savings faster than people planned.
What Medicare does, and does not, pay
Medicare can cover a limited skilled nursing stay after a qualifying hospital stay. It does not pay for ongoing custodial care, the help with bathing, dressing, and meals that most long-term stays involve. Treating Medicare as a long-term care plan leaves a gap.
Where Medicaid fits
Health First Colorado can pay for nursing home care, and in some cases other long-term services, when a person meets medical and financial rules. Those rules include a look-back at gifts and transfers made in the five years before the application. Planning that is finished before that window generally is not counted the same way.
How families close the gap
- Income from Social Security, pensions, and investments
- Savings and the sale of assets, if needed
- Long-term care insurance, if the policy fits the setting
- A Medicaid asset protection trust, set up while care is still years away
A trust is not the only tool, and it is not the right tool when care is already close. The useful time to talk is while you still have options.
Start with a clear picture
Bring what you know about income, the home, and whose care you are planning for. We will explain where Medicaid may fit, what the look-back would mean, and whether an asset protection trust is worth considering. Fees are discussed before any work begins.
This guide is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change, and every family is different.