Nursing Homes in Mississippi: Cost & Medicaid (2026)

A nursing home is the most expensive long-term care setting in Mississippi, with medians of about $9,581 a month for a semi-private room and $9,885 for a private room.1 Medicare doesn't pay for long-term custodial care, but Mississippi Medicaid covers nursing-facility care for people who need that level of care and meet its eligibility rules.2,3

This guide covers how Mississippi oversees its nursing homes, what a stay costs, who pays for it (Medicare's limited skilled benefit versus Medicaid for long-term care), and how to check a facility's record before you choose one.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• How Mississippi Oversees Nursing Homes
• What a Nursing Home Costs in Mississippi
• Who Pays: Medicare vs. Medicaid
• How to Vet a Facility
• Frequently Asked Questions

How Mississippi Oversees Nursing Homes

A nursing home, which the National Institute on Aging notes is also called a skilled nursing facility, typically provides nursing care, 24-hour supervision, three meals a day, and help with everyday activities, and rehabilitation services such as physical, occupational, and speech therapy are also available. Its services focus more on medical care than most assisted living facilities do.5 Before you weigh cost or payment, it helps to know who watches over these facilities in Mississippi, because that oversight is what gives you a record to check.

Two layers of regulation apply, and they work together. At the state level, nursing facilities are regulated and licensed by the Mississippi State Department of Health, through its Division of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification.4 That same division is also responsible for certifying facilities to take part in Medicare and Medicaid. A certified facility's results feed the federal Five-Star Quality Rating System published on Medicare Care Compare, which gives each nursing home one Overall rating from one to five stars plus separate ratings for health inspections, staffing, and quality measures.4

There's also a free advocate you should know about before you need it. Mississippi's State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, administered by the Mississippi Department of Human Services and authorized by the federal Older Americans Act, works to protect the health, safety, welfare, and rights of residents of long-term care facilities and advocates for residents of places such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Its services are always confidential and free.4 Where the Department of Health licenses facilities, the ombudsman's job is to stand on the resident's side.

What a Nursing Home Costs in Mississippi

Nursing-home care is the priciest long-term care in Mississippi, and a long private-pay stay adds up fast. According to the CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey, the 2025 Mississippi medians were about $9,581 a month ($114,975 a year, or $315 a day) for a semi-private nursing-home room and about $9,885 a month ($118,625 a year, or $325 a day) for a private room.1 These are medians from an industry survey, not government rates and not maximums, and CareScout cautions that actual costs may vary with individual care needs, provider availability, and local market conditions.1

Nursing homes are the exception to Mississippi's low costs. Its assisted-living median runs about $4,369 a month, the lowest or second-lowest of any state depending on which CareScout publication you read, and well below the national $6,200, and the state posted the lowest non-medical caregiver (in-home) rate of any state in the 2025 survey. But its semi-private nursing-home median lands exactly on the national figure and ranks 30th among the states, and its private-room median ranks 37th, cheaper than average but nothing like the bargain the other settings are.1

A nursing-home room costs far more than assisted living does in Mississippi.1 That gap is why families often look hard at whether assisted living or in-home care can meet the need before moving to a nursing home, and why Medicaid's rules matter so much for a long stay.

Who Pays: Medicare vs. Medicaid

People often assume Medicare covers a nursing home. It does, but only in a narrow way, and confusing the two programs can be an expensive mistake. Here's how they divide the work.

Medicare covers short rehab, not a long stay. Medicare Part A covers skilled nursing facility care only on a short-term basis after a hospital stay. To qualify, a person generally needs a qualifying inpatient hospital stay of at least three consecutive days, then enters a Medicare-certified facility for skilled care related to that stay. Medicare then covers up to 100 days per benefit period: days 1 through 20 at $0 a day once the Part A deductible is paid (usually already paid during the hospital stay), and days 21 through 100 with a daily coinsurance of $217 in 2026, after which Medicare pays nothing.2 No qualifying stay isn't automatically a dead end: an Accountable Care Organization with a three-day-rule waiver or a Medicare Advantage plan may waive it, and someone who re-enters a facility within 30 days of leaving doesn't need a new three-day stay.2 Medicare does not pay for long-term custodial care, the ongoing help with activities of daily living when that is the only care a person needs. For that care, Medicaid may pay if the person meets the state's eligibility rules.2

Medicaid covers long-term nursing-facility care. Mississippi Medicaid, administered by the Division of Medicaid under Title 23 of the Mississippi Administrative Code, covers nursing-facility care for people who need that level of care and meet the eligibility rules.3 Qualifying turns on findings on separate tracks. The categorical side is about who the applicant is: a U.S. citizen or qualified non-citizen who lives in Mississippi and is 65 or older or meets the SSI definition of blindness or disability. On the medical side, a physician's certification that the person needs long-term care has to be verified before eligibility can be approved. To qualify under the institutional income limit, a person generally must be in a medical facility for 30 consecutive days or more, though that requirement doesn't apply to someone whose income is no more than 135% of the federal poverty level or who dies before the 31st day.3 On the money side, total income is compared to the 2026 limit of $2,982 a month, and someone whose income equals or exceeds it must qualify through an Income Trust. A nursing-facility resident can use an Income Trust (someone in an acute care hospital can't), but not if their income is above the private-pay rate of the facility where they live. The resource limit is $4,000 for an individual.3 A resident on Medicaid pays their income toward the cost of care after certain deductions, including a basic personal needs allowance of $44 a month, which is higher in some cases: $90 for a veteran or dependent whose reduced VA pension is $90.3

Marriage changes the math. When one spouse needs long-term care and the other stays in the community, the at-home spouse's share of the couple's combined countable resources equals the federal maximum, $162,660 in 2026, while the applicant spouse must be within the $4,000 individual limit. The at-home spouse may also receive a monthly income allocation of up to $4,066.50 in 2026, less their own income.3 Two more rules shape long-term-care eligibility. Mississippi applies the transfer-of-assets rules with a five-year, or 60-month, look-back.3 And nursing-facility eligibility is subject to estate recovery: under federal law the state must seek recovery from the estate of a recipient who was 55 or older for nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services, but only after the death of any surviving spouse and only when there is no surviving child under 21 or blind or permanently and totally disabled, and the state must waive recovery that would work an undue hardship.3 If a nursing home isn't the right fit, home and community-based long-term care runs mainly through the Elderly and Disabled Waiver, for people age 21 and older who need nursing facility level of care as determined by a comprehensive assessment.3 Because these rules are detailed, it's worth getting professional advice before assuming any outcome.

How to Vet a Facility

Quality varies widely from one nursing home to the next, and Mississippi gives you several free tools to check a place before you commit. Use more than one, because each shows you something the others don't.

Start with the federal scorecard. On Medicare Care Compare, the Five-Star Quality Rating System gives each nursing home one Overall rating from one to five stars, plus separate ratings for health inspections, staffing, and quality measures; a 5-star home is considered much above average quality and a 1-star home much below.4 Read the component ratings, not just the headline star count, because a strong Overall can sit on top of a weak staffing or inspection score. The staffing rating deserves a close look on its own.

Then go behind the ratings. When you tour a facility, ask about the health-inspection findings behind its rating, and watch for a pattern of repeat problems rather than reacting to a single old one. Finally, contact the Mississippi Long-Term Care Ombudsman before you sign anything. The program advocates for residents of nursing homes, and its services are confidential and free.4

Learn More

Find personalized help comparing nursing homes in Mississippi at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.