Updated September 3, 2026. Quick answer: yes, through Long Term Care Community Services (LTCCS), under the Diamond State Health Plan (DSHP) 1115 Demonstration, drawing on HCBS authorities of Sections 1915(c) and 1915(i). Medicaid does not pay the facility’s room and board either way; only the care and service component.
The same question in other states: Does Medicaid Pay for Assisted Living in Idaho?, Does Medicaid Pay for Assisted Living in Illinois? and Does Medicaid Pay for Assisted Living in Kansas?
What Delaware covers
| Waiver / state plan option | Long Term Care Community Services (LTCCS), under the Diamond State Health Plan (DSHP) 1115 Demonstration, drawing on HCBS authorities of Sections 1915(c) and 1915(i) |
|---|---|
| Covers an assisted living setting? | Yes: “LTCCS, including Assisted Living services, is authorized under the Diamond State Health Plan (DSHP) 1115 Demonstration and requires enrollment in a Managed Care Organization (MCO) for service coverage. … Assisted Living services are provided under the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) authorities of Sections 1915(c) and 1915(i) of the Social Security Act” |
| Room and board | Never covered by Medicaid, in Delaware or any state; see below. |
The room-and-board split
Federal law is the floor every state builds on: “The Secretary may by waiver provide that a State plan approved under this subchapter may include as “medical assistance” under such plan payment for part or all of the cost of home or community-based services (other than room and board) approved by the Secretary” (42 U.S.C. §1396n(c)(1), Social Security Act §1915(c)). The words in parentheses do the work: whatever a state’s waiver pays for inside an assisted living community, it is not the rent, the meals, or the room itself. That portion stays the resident’s own to fund, out of income, savings, or a family contribution; the waiver only ever reaches the care and service layer on top of it. We did not find Delaware’s own materials restating this point in the sources read this session; the federal rule above still governs.
The waitlist
Not published by the state in the materials reviewed this session.
What you get to keep: the personal needs allowance
$75.00 a month: $50.00 $75 per month of available income is to be protected for the Medicaid recipient’s direct personal needs This is the amount of a waiver participant’s own income the state lets them keep for personal spending after the rest goes toward the cost of their care; it varies by state because each state sets its own figure inside the federal floor.
What this doesn’t answer
No Delaware primary source read this session states explicitly that Medicaid does not pay a facility’s room and board for assisted living, though a separate ‘Assisted Living Patient Pay Amount Notice’ referenced in DMMA’s own materials implies a resident cost-share exists. Waitlist status is unverified: DHSS’s own site had multiple dead links to relevant admin-notice pages, and two waiver-amendment PDFs that were opened had font-encoding corruption on key terms, preventing a confident search of their content. The $75/month personal needs allowance is effective January 1, 2025.
Figures verified against Delaware DMMA Administrative Notice A-04-2026 and 42 U.S.C. §1396n(c)(1) (law.cornell.edu) on September 30, 2026; the $75 personal needs allowance, the 16 DE Admin. Code 20000 §20620.1 citation and waitlist status were not re-checked.
Sources
- Delaware DMMA Administrative Notice A-04-2026, March 11, 2026
- Delaware Register of Regulations, 16 DE Admin. Code 20000, §20620.1
Read September 3, 2026.
Same question, other states: Maryland · Iowa.
Related: what assisted living actually costs · assisted living vs. staying home vs. a CCRC · why home care has a waitlist and a nursing home doesn’t.
General information drawn from each state’s own Medicaid agency and federal statute, not legal, tax or financial advice. Medicaid is administered state by state; waiver names, coverage decisions, waitlists and allowance amounts change by state budget and legislative action. This page cannot see your own state’s current caseload. We are not a law firm, a benefits counselor, or a fiduciary, and this is not personalized advice. We sell nothing on this page and earn nothing from it.