Adult day health care costs in Indiana
Here is the middle of the price range in Indiana, and then — because it is the question that actually follows — who pays for it. The short answer on that second one surprises most people: Medicare does not.
The Indiana median
$127 a day
- Works out to, monthly
- $2,752
- Works out to, yearly
- $33,020
Our arithmetic, not the survey's. The survey reports this one by the day, so the monthly and yearly figures assume a schedule: $127 a day × 5 days a week × 52 weeks ÷ 12 months. Fewer hours, smaller bill — the schedule is the biggest lever you have.
That is about 34% higher than the national median of $95 a day. Within Indiana the spread is usually wider still: a city costs more than a rural county, often by a great deal.
A supervised daytime program in a protective setting, with health and social services, for adults who are functionally or cognitively impaired; it also gives a family caregiver the day back.
What this number is, and what it is not.
It comes from an industry cost-of-care survey — providers reporting their prices — not from a government rate table. There is no federal agency that publishes what assisted living costs, which is why the survey is the source of record here and why we label it plainly rather than dressing it up as official.
A median means half charged more and half charged less. It is not a quote for any particular home, agency or facility, and no provider is bound by it. Prices collected for the 2025 survey.
Where Indiana sits
$127 a day ranks Indiana 13th of the 45 states priced for adult day health care: 12 charge more, 32 charge less.
Utah is the next state up, at $140; Minnesota the next down, at $120.
The national median is $95, so Indiana runs $32 above it — 34% more, or $8,320 a year ($32 × 5 days a week × 52 weeks).
The column runs $58 (Alabama) to $267 (Montana). Indiana sits 33% up it, 2.19× the lowest, with 5 other within a tenth of it.
Of the 6 kinds of care Indiana was priced for, this is its 1st dearest standing: at best 13th of 45 for adult day health care, at worst 39th of 46 for skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse).
What $2,752 a month becomes
Our multiplication, holding the Indiana median flat — no real bill does — with the same span of the state's least costly priced care beside it:
Six months
$16,510
$33,834 of assisted living community
One year
$33,020
$67,668 of assisted living community
Two years
$66,040
$135,336 of assisted living community
Three years
$99,060
$203,004 of assisted living community
Five years
$165,100
$338,340 of assisted living community
Care is bought in years, not months, and $2,752 a month is $33,020 a year.
Five years at the national median would be $123,500: $41,600 less than five years in Indiana.
Inside Indiana, five years of assisted living community runs $338,340 and five of skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse) $800,800; this page's $165,100 sits 0% between them. Most families pay for more than one of these in sequence.
Against other care in Indiana
Converted to a month on our schedule, set beside this page's $2,752:
Skilled nursing at home (private duty nurse)
$13,347 a month
$10,595 a month more, $127,140 a year, 4.85× this page. Indiana places 39th of 46 for it, 26 below its 13th here.
Nursing home, private room
$10,326 a month
$7,574 a month more, $90,892 a year, 3.75× this page. Indiana places 33rd of 49 for it, 20 below its 13th here.
Nursing home, semi-private room
$8,943 a month
$6,191 a month more, $74,296 a year, 3.25× this page. Indiana places 38th of 50 for it, 25 below its 13th here.
In-home care (non-medical caregiver)
$6,673 a month
$3,922 a month more, $47,060 a year, 2.43× this page. Indiana places 26th of 50 for it, 13 below its 13th here.
Assisted living community
$5,639 a month
$2,887 a month more, $34,648 a year, 2.05× this page. Indiana places 35th of 50 for it, 22 below its 13th here.
On the same monthly footing, adult day health care is the 6th costliest of the 6 kinds of care priced in Indiana, at $2,752. The conversions are ours; the medians are the survey's.
44 hours a week of in-home care in Indiana is $6,673 a month against $5,639 for assisted living — 15% less. The first buys 44 hours and nothing else; the second includes the room, the meals, and someone awake overnight.
Who actually pays for this
This is the part most cost pages leave out, and it is the part that changes what a family does next.
Medicare does not pay for long-term care
Medicare pays for short stretches of skilled care — a limited stay in a skilled nursing facility after a qualifying hospital admission, or skilled home health under specific conditions. It does not pay for custodial care: help with bathing, dressing, meals, medication reminders and supervision. That is what most people need, and for years at a time.
Medicare's own page on long-term care ↗ says the same thing in its own words. It is worth reading once, because almost everyone assumes the opposite.
Medicaid may pay — after a spend-down
Medicaid is the largest payer of long-term care in the country, but it is needs-based: it begins once income and countable savings are inside the limits Indiana sets. Getting there by spending savings on care is what people mean by a spend-down. There is also a look-back period, so gifts and transfers made in the years beforehand matter.
Veterans: Aid and Attendance may help
A wartime veteran, or a surviving spouse, who needs help with daily activities may qualify for an addition to the VA pension called Aid and Attendance. It is an income-and-net-worth benefit, it is paid monthly, and a great many families who qualify have never heard of it. Accredited veterans service organizations help with the claim for free.
Otherwise: savings, family, and long-term care insurance
Most families pay out of pocket first — from savings, a pension, the sale of a house, or several relatives contributing. A long-term care insurance policy bought years ago pays a daily or monthly amount if the policy's conditions are met; if there is a policy in the family, find it and read what triggers it before you need it.
Working out which of these applies to one particular family is exactly what a free Indiana counselor does all day. They are paid by a federal grant, not by commission, and they have nothing to sell you. The Eldercare Locator (ACL): 1-800-677-1116 ↗ will connect you to the area agency on aging for your county.
Who to ask in Indiana
Indiana's free counseling program is State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), on 1-800-452-4800. It is grant-funded and sells nothing.
the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration decides Medicaid long-term care here — not a facility, and not us. Indiana runs it as Nursing facility (institutional) Medicaid, Home and community based services waivers and PACE and Regular Medicaid for the aged, blind and disabled, with a 60-month look-back on gifts and transfers.
Beside $2,752 a month — our comparison, its limits — that is what "spend-down" means: a single applicant's monthly income may not top $2,982, which this bill clears 0.9 times over, countable assets may not top $2,000, or about 22 days of adult day health care at this rate and an at-home spouse may keep up to $162,660, or about 4.9 years of it.
Verified 2026-08-02 against CareScout (formerly Genworth) Cost of Care Survey 2025, fielded July-November 2025 (effective 2026-01-01)— an industry survey, not a government figure. Why we use it.
Verified 2026-08-02 against SHIP National Technical Assistance Center (effective 2026-01-01)— an industry survey, not a government figure. Why we use it.
Verified 2026-08-02 against Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Indiana Health Coverage Program Policy Manual Chapter 3000 — Eligibility Standards (effective 2026-01-01)
Common questions
- Does Medicare pay for adult day health care in Indiana?
- No. Medicare pays for short stretches of skilled care after a qualifying hospital stay, and for skilled home health in limited circumstances. It does not pay for long-term custodial care — help with bathing, dressing, meals and supervision — which is what most families are actually paying for.
- Is adult day health care dearer in Indiana than in other states?
- $127 a day places Indiana 13th of the 45 states the survey priced for it: 12 charge more and 32 charge less. The national median is $95. That ranking is our arithmetic on the survey's published medians, not a ranking the survey itself publishes.
- Is this the price I will be quoted in Indiana?
- No. It is the middle of a range from an industry cost-of-care survey: half of the providers surveyed charged more, half charged less. Prices vary a great deal between a city and a rural county in the same state, and no facility is bound by this figure.
- Who can help me work out how to pay for it?
- Indiana runs its free counseling program as State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), on 1-800-452-4800. It is paid for by a federal grant, sells nothing, and the Eldercare Locator (1-800-677-1116) will connect you to the area agency on aging that covers your county.