How to Pay for Senior Care in Minnesota (2026)

A semi-private nursing home room runs about $114,975 a year at the national median, and Minnesota's nursing home costs run higher than that.1 Almost no family can pay that out of pocket for long. So the real question is which funding source applies to you, and in what order.

Most families combine several sources. Private savings buy time while you line up Minnesota Medicaid, VA benefits, or insurance. This guide lays out how to pay for senior care in Minnesota in 2026.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• What Senior Care Costs in Minnesota
• Paying Out of Pocket
• What Medicare Does and Doesn't Cover
• How to Pay for Senior Care in Minnesota Through Medicaid
• VA Aid and Attendance for Veterans
• Long-Term Care Insurance
• Other Ways to Pay for Senior Care in Minnesota
• Learn More
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Pay for Senior Care in Minnesota: Your Options

There are five main ways to pay. Each one covers something different. Most families use a mix.

What Senior Care Costs in Minnesota

Know what you're paying for before you work out how to pay. The figures below are industry-survey medians from the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, released in March 2026. These are industry survey estimates, not government figures. Minnesota's nursing-home and in-home care costs run above the national medians, while its assisted living sits close to the national figure.1

The Twin Cities metro generally runs higher than these medians, and rural Minnesota runs lower. Because Minnesota's nursing-home and in-home costs sit above the national figures, expect to pay more than these medians for those settings in much of the state. A two-year nursing home stay costs roughly twice that annual median, and more in Minnesota.1 That is why families combine the funding sources below. For a fuller breakdown, see our cost of senior care in Minnesota guide.

Paying Out of Pocket

Most families start here. They draw on Social Security, pensions, retirement savings, and home equity. For a while it may be the only option, especially before Medicaid comes through.

A few private-pay tools Minnesota families use:

• Home equity. Sell the home, rent it out, or borrow against it. A reverse mortgage (for owners 62 and older) turns equity into cash. But the home is usually exempt for Medicaid, up to an equity cap of $752,000, so weigh any move against a future Medicaid plan first.2
• Life insurance. Some policies pay an accelerated death benefit for a terminally ill policyholder, or can be sold in a life settlement.
• Retirement and investment accounts. The most flexible source. They are also countable assets for Medicaid, so spending them down has consequences later.

The hard truth: paying out of pocket at Minnesota prices drains savings fast. Treat private pay as a bridge. Our guides to paying for in-home care and paying for assisted living cover the options in more depth.

What Medicare Does and Doesn't Cover

This is where families get caught off guard. Medicare does not pay for long-term care. It will not cover the ongoing help with bathing, dressing, eating, and supervision that most seniors eventually need.5

What Medicare does cover is limited and medical:

• Skilled nursing facility care for up to 100 days after a qualifying three-day hospital stay. Days 1 through 20 are covered in full. Days 21 through 100 require a daily coinsurance. After day 100, nothing.5
• Home health care when a doctor orders skilled nursing or therapy and the person is homebound.
• Hospice care for someone who is terminally ill.

What Medicare never covers: long-term nursing home stays, assisted living, adult day care, and non-medical home care. For ongoing care, Minnesotans rely on Medicaid, VA benefits, insurance, or private pay.

How to Pay for Senior Care in Minnesota Through Medicaid

Minnesota Medicaid, known as Medical Assistance (MA), is the dominant payer for long-term senior care in the state. It is administered by the Minnesota Department of Human Services and covers nursing home care and in-home care for people who qualify financially and clinically.2

Minnesota is a 209(b) state, which means it sets its own standards and uses a medically needy spend-down rather than a strict income cap with a Miller Trust.

Who Qualifies in 2026

The rules are detailed, but the core figures for 2026 are these.2

• Assets: up to $3,000 in countable assets for a single applicant; $6,000 for a household of two. That is above the $2,000 limit most states use. The home (subject to an equity cap of $752,000), one vehicle, household goods, and a prepaid burial are exempt.2
• Income: Minnesota does not require a Qualified Income Trust. An applicant whose income exceeds the medically needy income standard qualifies by spending the excess down on incurred medical and care costs; a nursing-facility resident contributes income above allowances toward the cost of care.
• Spousal protection: the at-home spouse can keep half the couple's countable assets up to $162,660 (the Community Spouse Resource Allowance) so they are not left with nothing.

Minnesota also keeps one of the highest Personal Needs Allowances in the country: a Medicaid-eligible nursing-facility resident keeps $132 a month for personal expenses while the rest of their income goes toward care.2

Minnesota also applies a 60-month look-back. Assets given away or sold for less than fair value in the five years before applying can trigger a penalty period.6 For the full picture, see our guides to Minnesota Medicaid income limits, how to apply for Minnesota Medicaid, and Minnesota Medicaid estate recovery.

Keeping a Parent at Home: The Elderly Waiver

Medical Assistance does not only pay for nursing homes. The Elderly Waiver (EW) is Minnesota's Medicaid home and community-based services waiver for people 65 or older who need a nursing-facility level of care but want to stay in their own home or a community setting. It covers personal care, homemaker and chore help, home-delivered meals, adult day services, respite, case management, and home modifications.3

The gateway is a MnCHOICES assessment, a free functional evaluation scheduled through your county or tribal human-services office. It determines whether the person needs a nursing-facility level of care and builds a support plan. To start, call your county or tribal office, or apply for Medical Assistance first. To apply for MA, use the ApplyMN online application, file a paper application at a county or tribal human-services office, or apply by phone; people who are not on Medicare can also apply through MNsure.2

VA Aid and Attendance for Veterans

If your loved one is a wartime veteran or the surviving spouse of one, VA Aid and Attendance can be a real funding source. It is an extra monthly amount added to the VA pension for veterans who need help with daily activities or are housebound. The money can pay for home care, assisted living, or a nursing home.4

For the rate year that began December 1, 2025, the maximum monthly amounts are:

• Single veteran: up to $2,424 a month.4
• Veteran with a spouse or dependent: up to $2,874 a month.
• Surviving spouse: up to $1,558 a month.

Aid and Attendance is need-based. The actual payment is the maximum rate minus countable income, after subtracting unreimbursed medical costs. The 2026 net worth limit is $163,699, and there is a three-year look-back on asset transfers.4 It can work alongside Medicaid in some cases, so check it early.

Long-Term Care Insurance

Did your family member buy a long-term care policy years ago? Dig it out now. Read the benefit triggers, the daily maximum, and the waiting period before you need them. These policies typically pay toward home care, assisted living, and nursing home care up to a set daily or monthly amount.

Some older policies tie to the federal and state Long-Term Care Partnership Program, which links approved policies to extra Medicaid asset protection. Dollars the policy pays out are dollars you can keep and still qualify for Minnesota Medicaid later, on top of its standard $3,000 asset limit.2 New policies are expensive and hard to qualify for after 65, so this is mainly a tool for people who bought in earlier. If a policy exists, treat it as central, and time a Medicaid application around when its benefits run out. Our guide to long-term care insurance explains how these policies work.

Other Ways to Pay for Senior Care in Minnesota

A few smaller levers can stretch a budget. None replaces the main sources above. Get advice before acting on the ones with long-term consequences.

• Home modifications through a Medicaid waiver. For people on the Elderly Waiver or another home-and-community-based waiver, the plan can fund grab bars, ramps, and similar changes that let someone stay home safely.
• Annuities and trusts. Medicaid-compliant annuities and certain irrevocable trusts can reposition assets. The 60-month look-back and Minnesota's specific rules make these easy to get wrong.6 Talk to an elder-law attorney first.
• A written funding plan. Combining sources in the right order is the whole game. Our guide to building a senior care funding plan walks through how to sequence them.

Learn More

Find personalized help paying for senior care in Minnesota 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.