About NursingHomeCalc
A free, independent reference for nursing home and Medicaid spend-down planning. No lead generation. No facility partnerships. No sales pitch.
What this site is
NursingHomeCalc is a free calculator that helps families estimate nursing home, memory care, assisted living, and home care costs by state — and shows how long their savings will last before reaching Medicaid asset limits. It is independently operated and supported entirely by Google AdSense advertising.
The calculator is intended for families researching long-term care decisions for an aging parent, spouse, or themselves. It produces honest estimates using verifiable median data, and it tells you what it doesn't know.
What we don't do
- No lead generation. We don't sell your information to nursing homes, memory care facilities, long-term care insurance companies, or elder-law attorneys.
- No facility partnerships. We don't list "preferred" facilities or accept compensation for placement referrals.
- No upsells. Every feature is free. There is no premium tier, no email capture, no consultation funnel.
- No personalized advice. The calculator produces estimates based on state median data. It is not a substitute for an elder law attorney, a financial planner, or a Medicaid eligibility specialist — and we say so on every results page.
How we operate
NursingHomeCalc is run by a small editorial team. We publish under the organization name rather than individual bylines because the site's value comes from the data and the methodology, not from any individual's reputation. The site is monetized exclusively through Google AdSense — display ads at the top, middle, and bottom of pages — which lets us keep everything free without selling user data or pushing referrals.
The site is a static HTML application hosted on AWS. Calculator inputs never leave your browser. We do not have a database of users, a CRM, an email list, or any kind of account system.
Editorial principles
Cite primary sources
Every cost figure on the site traces to a primary source: the CareScout Cost of Care Survey for facility costs, CMS for Medicare and Medicaid figures, the VA for pension rates. We name the source and the year on every page where it appears.
Use the latest data
State medians are updated when CareScout publishes its annual report each March. Federal Medicaid figures are updated when CMS publishes new spousal-impoverishment limits each January. The footer notes the most recent revision date.
Show the variance
Medians are not promises. State median nursing home costs vary by 200% across the country, and individual facilities can vary 30-60% from their state median. We surface this variance instead of presenting a single confident number.
Acknowledge limits
The calculator doesn't model state-specific Medicaid waivers, asset-protection trusts, long-term care insurance benefits, or estate recovery. We tell you what's missing and recommend professional consultation for decisions of this magnitude.
Funding model
The site displays Google AdSense ads. We do not control which specific ads are shown to any individual visitor — that is determined by Google's ad-targeting algorithms. The presence of an ad on this site is not an endorsement of the advertiser, and we do not have business relationships with any of the companies whose ads may appear.
We do not participate in lead-generation marketplaces (such as A Place for Mom-style referral networks) and have no plans to do so. If we ever change this policy, the change will be disclosed prominently on this About page and the privacy policy.
How the site stays current
The data underlying the calculator is reviewed annually after the CareScout Cost of Care Survey publishes its update each March. Medicaid figures (CSRA, federal benefit rate, income caps) are reviewed each January when CMS releases new federal limits. VA pension rates are reviewed each December when the cost-of-living adjustment takes effect.
For the methodology behind every formula and assumption used in the calculator, see the Methodology page.