GrayBrief | Paying for Care

Long-term care runs $24,700 to $129,575 a year at the national median, and Medicare pays for very little of it. This guide shows what Medicare, Medicaid, the VA, insurance, and the family each pay, and how to keep the family's share as small as the rules allow.

What's inside

- What care costs in 2026, and how to estimate yours

- Who pays for what, in one table

- Medicare's 100-day rule, and how to appeal when coverage ends, with a phone script

- Medicaid's 2026 limits, the look-back, and the protections for a spouse at home

- How to apply for Medicaid, and what estate recovery can reach

- VA Aid and Attendance: up to $2,424 a month for a qualifying veteran

- Long-term care insurance, home equity, life insurance, PACE, and Medicare's dementia program

- Ten ways to lower the bill, plus federal tax breaks for families

- Worksheets: your monthly gap, facility pricing questions, questions for an attorney, and a sibling cost-split agreement

Format

36-page PDF. Figures current as of October 2026. Reviewed by a New York-licensed attorney, October 2026.

Education, not legal, financial, or tax advice. Buying this guide does not create an attorney-client relationship.