If you have been up at night watching your parent's savings drain toward an assisted living bill, you are not alone, and the way to pay for it is rarely one single source.

Virginia families can cover assisted living, which runs about $6,945 a month, by combining personal income and savings, long-term care insurance, VA benefits for those who served, and, for low-income seniors who qualify, the state Auxiliary Grant toward the cost of a licensed facility., This guide walks through each source, with the eligibility test and the actual agency door for the ones that take an application, so you can build a realistic plan.

In This Guide

What It Costs to Pay for Assisted Living in Virginia

Assisted living in Virginia runs about $6,945 a month (roughly $83,340 a year), above the national median of $6,200 a month, based on the CareScout (Genworth) 2025 Cost of Care Survey released in March 2026. That is a statewide median from an industry survey, not a quote. Treat it as a planning anchor, and ask each assisted living facility for an all-in monthly price that separates the base rent from any care-level add-ons.

That monthly number is the starting point for everything below. The goal is to assemble enough from the sources that follow to cover it for as long as your parent needs care.

Private Pay

Paying privately means drawing on your parent's own money. That can feel daunting, so it helps to see the sources families can draw on:

  • Income: Social Security, pensions, and retirement-account withdrawals are the steadiest base.
  • Savings and investments: drawn down on a planned schedule so you know how many months or years they will cover at about $6,945 a month.
  • The family home: selling the home, or borrowing against it through a home-equity line or a reverse mortgage if a spouse still lives there, frees up a large share of many families' net worth.
  • Annuities and life-insurance conversions: some families convert a life-insurance policy to a long-term-care benefit or use an annuity to turn a lump sum into predictable monthly income.
  • Bridge loans: a short-term loan can cover the gap between move-in and the month a home sale closes or a benefit is approved.

One caution worth knowing before you sell an asset to spend down: Virginia Medicaid's countable-resource limit is $2,000 for one person, and the home serving as your parent's principal residence is on the excluded list, so selling it changes what Medicaid would count. Gifts or other transfers for less than fair market value within the 60-month look-back can also create a penalty period. If a Medicaid pathway might be in your family's future, get advice before moving large sums.

Build a written timeline of how long private funds will last. Knowing the month at which savings would run low is what makes it possible to apply for the Auxiliary Grant in time, rather than in a crisis.

Long-Term Care Insurance

If your parent bought a long-term care insurance policy, it can help with Virginia's roughly $6,945-a-month assisted living bill. Long-term care insurance is private insurance designed to cover the personal and custodial care that regular health insurance is not designed to cover, and whether a given policy pays in an assisted living facility depends on that policy's own terms, so check which care settings it lists as covered.

A policy pays only when two conditions are met. The first is a benefit trigger: the insurer decides whether your parent is eligible through a company-sponsored assessment, usually done by a nurse and social worker, and most policies pay when someone needs help with two or more of six activities of daily living or has a cognitive impairment. The second is the elimination period: the time that must pass after the benefit trigger occurs before the policy starts paying for services. Most policies let the buyer choose 30, 60, or 90 days at purchase, your parent pays for any services received during that period, and some policies count only days of paid care toward it, so unpaid family care may not count.

Read the policy for its daily or monthly benefit amount, its elimination period, and its covered settings, and contact the insurer as soon as care needs begin to ask how its assessment works. This is general guidance; your parent's own policy language controls what it pays.

VA Aid and Attendance

If your parent served in wartime, this benefit deserves a close look. A wartime veteran or a surviving spouse who needs help with daily activities may qualify for VA Aid and Attendance, an add-on to the VA pension that provides extra income you can apply to assisted living.

For 2026 (rates effective December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026), the maximum annual Aid and Attendance pension rate is $29,093 a year for a veteran with no dependents and $18,697 a year for a surviving spouse with no dependents. That maximum is a ceiling, not a payment: VA pays the difference between it and your parent's countable income, in monthly installments, and unreimbursed medical expenses above 5% of the maximum can reduce countable income. Eligibility turns on three things: qualifying wartime service (generally at least 90 days of active duty with at least one day during a wartime period for those who entered before September 8, 1980, or 24 months for later enlistees), at least one of age 65 or older, a permanent and total disability, a nursing-home stay for long-term care because of a disability, or receiving SSDI or SSI, and a documented need for aid and attendance, such as needing help to bathe, dress, or feed oneself. There is also a net-worth limit of $163,699 for 2026, which counts income as well as assets, and a three-year look-back on asset transfers. That limit leaves out the home your parent lives in, their car, and basic home items, so owning a house free and clear does not by itself put someone over it.

It is worth applying even if you are unsure your parent qualifies. You can apply at VA.gov or, at no cost, through a VA-accredited Veterans Service Officer.

The Auxiliary Grant and Medicaid

Virginia has its own source of public help with the cost. The Auxiliary Grant (AG) is a state- and locally-funded program, separate from Medicaid and run under regulations of the Commissioner of the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, that makes cash payments toward the cost of living in a licensed assisted living facility, an approved adult foster care home, or supportive housing. To compare the AG with similar programs in other states, see SSI state supplements for board and care homes.

Who qualifies. The AG is for certain aged, blind, or disabled adults who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or would be eligible for SSI except for excess income. To receive it while living in an assisted living facility, your parent must be evaluated by a case manager or other qualified assessor using Virginia's uniform assessment instrument on admission, annually after that, and whenever their condition changes enough to warrant a different level of care.

What it pays. For 2026 the AG rate for an approved licensed assisted living facility is a maximum of $2,130 a month, or $2,450 in Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia), and recipients keep a personal needs allowance of $87 a month. The grant itself is that rate plus the personal needs allowance, minus your parent's countable income. A participating facility signs a provider agreement to accept the established rate as payment in full, and it may not charge a security deposit or any other compensation as a condition of admission or continued stay.

How to apply. The Auxiliary Grant has its own application, filed with the local Department of Social Services where your parent lives, or, if they have moved into a nursing home or other institution, where they last lived before entering it. You can learn the rules and find your local office through the Virginia Auxiliary Grant program. A facility takes part by signing that provider agreement, and your parent can select a facility subject to availability, so finding an AG-participating facility with an opening is part of the planning.

When no participating facility has an opening. This is a real and stressful bottleneck. If no AG-participating facility near you has a bed, ask your local Department of Social Services and the facility's admissions office to put your parent on a waiting list, widen the search to adult foster care homes (which can also accept the AG), and in the meantime use private pay or VA Aid and Attendance to hold a spot. Planning before savings run out gives you the room to wait for an opening rather than face a forced move.

For care needs beyond what assisted living provides, Virginia Medicaid covers nursing-facility care and home- and community-based services through the Commonwealth Coordinated Care Plus (CCC Plus) waiver for those who meet a nursing-facility level of care and the financial rules: an income standard around $2,982 a month (300% of the SSI federal benefit rate) and a $2,000 countable-resource limit for one person, with a medically-needy spend-down path for those over the income limit. If your parent's finances are near the limits, getting advice before applying can prevent costly missteps.

How to Pay for Assisted Living in Virginia by Layering Sources

You do not have to solve the whole bill at once, or pay it from a single source. One way to layer them: private income and savings cover the early months, VA Aid and Attendance or long-term care insurance fills part of the gap for those who qualify, and the Auxiliary Grant becomes the backstop in a participating facility once your parent's income and resources are low enough to qualify.

The key planning move is to map out, in advance, how long private funds last, then line up the next source before you need it. Doing this early, before a crisis, is what gives a family options.

Your next step Call your local Department of Social Services to ask about Auxiliary Grant eligibility and AG-participating facilities near you, and contact VA.gov or a VA-accredited Veterans Service Officer to start an Aid and Attendance claim if your parent served in wartime.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Medicaid pay for assisted living in Virginia?

Virginia's main public help with assisted living costs is the Auxiliary Grant, a state- and locally-funded program separate from Medicaid that makes cash payments toward the cost of a licensed assisted living facility for eligible low-income residents. Virginia Medicaid covers long-term services and supports in a nursing facility or a community-based setting, including through the CCC Plus waiver, for those who complete an LTSS screening and meet the financial rules.

How much does assisted living cost in Virginia?

About $6,945 a month (roughly $83,340 a year), according to the CareScout (Genworth) 2025 Cost of Care Survey, which is above the national median of $6,200 a month. That is a statewide median, so ask each facility for its all-in monthly price.

What is the Auxiliary Grant in Virginia?

It is a state- and locally-funded program, separate from Medicaid, that makes cash payments toward the cost of a licensed assisted living facility, an approved adult foster care home, or supportive housing for certain aged, blind, or disabled residents who receive SSI or would be eligible for SSI except for excess income. You apply through your local Department of Social Services. A participating facility accepts the AG rate, up to $2,130 a month in 2026 ($2,450 in Northern Virginia's Planning District 8), as payment in full.,

Can VA benefits help pay for assisted living in Virginia?

Yes. A wartime veteran or surviving spouse who needs help with daily activities may qualify for VA Aid and Attendance, which can be applied to assisted living. The 2026 annual ceiling is $29,093 for a veteran with no dependents and $18,697 for a surviving spouse with no dependents (higher with a dependent), and VA pays the ceiling minus your parent's countable income.

Will long-term care insurance cover assisted living?

It depends on the policy's own terms, so check whether assisted living is a covered setting, along with the benefit amount and the elimination period. The elimination period is the time that must pass after the insurer's benefit trigger is met before the policy pays; most policies let the buyer choose 30, 60, or 90 days at purchase, and your parent pays for services during it. Contact the insurer as soon as care needs begin to ask how its assessment works.

Learn More

Care TypesHow to Pay for Assisted Living by StateHow to pay for assisted living by state: Medicaid programs, state help and room-and-board rules all differ. See real examples, then open your state's guide. Care TypesAssisted Living in VirginiaAssisted living in Virginia runs about $6,945/month in 2026. What an ALF costs, how the Auxiliary Grant helps pay, and where Virginia Medicaid fits in. Care TypesCost of Senior Care in VirginiaWhat senior care costs in Virginia in 2026: assisted living about $6,945 a month, a nursing home about $123,005 a year. See every setting and how to pay. Care TypesMemory Care in VirginiaMemory care in Virginia is an assisted living 'safe, secure environment.' See the admission rules, staffing protections, cost, and how to vet a place. Care TypesNursing Homes in VirginiaNursing homes in Virginia in 2026: what a skilled nursing facility costs, how to check a facility's quality, and how Virginia Medicaid pays for long-term care. Care TypesAssisted Living vs. Memory Care in VirginiaAssisted living vs. memory care in Virginia turns on dementia, not daily-care needs. Assisted living runs about $6,945/month; memory care has no survey median. Care TypesMemory Care vs. Nursing Home in VirginiaMemory care vs. a nursing home in Virginia: the deciding factor is skilled-nursing need, and who pays flips. A nursing home runs about $10,250 a month.

Find personalized help paying for assisted living in Virginia 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.

Still have questions?

Brevy answers from this guide and every other guide here, and can check what you qualify for.

BC

Brevy Care Team

Expert eldercare guidance from Brevy's team of healthcare professionals and researchers.