Assisted living waitlists come in two kinds: a community's own list for an apartment, and a state Medicaid waiver list for help paying. Before joining a community's list, get the deposit and offer rules in writing. While you wait, join two or three lists, keep medical paperwork current, set up interim help at home or a respite stay, and check your place monthly.
Key facts
- KFF's 2025 survey of state Medicaid programs found that 41 states had waiting lists or interest lists for home and community-based services. (KFF, 2025)
- For Medicaid waivers serving older adults and people with physical disabilities, the average wait before receiving services was 15 months. (KFF, 2025)
- Medicaid.gov states that nursing facility services must be provided to eligible adults who need them and cannot be put on waiting lists. (Medicaid.gov, n.d.)
- Florida requires the medical exam to be done within 60 days before admission, or within 30 days after. (Florida Statutes, 2026)
- California requires the medical assessment to be made within the last year before acceptance. (California Code of Regulations, n.d.)
You found the place. Your parent liked the dining room, and the staff remembered her name on the second visit. Then the director said the words you didn't want to hear: “We don't have anything right now, but we can put you on our list.”
This post explains the two kinds of waitlists, the questions to ask before you join one, how to keep your place and your paperwork ready, and how to keep your parent safe in the meantime.
What kind of waitlist are you on?
Families often hear “waitlist” and picture one line. There can be two separate ones, and they work very differently.
| A community's waitlist | A Medicaid waiver waiting list | |
|---|---|---|
| What you're waiting for | An apartment, often a specific size or type | A slot in a state program that helps pay for care |
| Who runs it | The community | The state Medicaid program |
| How order is decided | Each community's own rules | State rules, and some states screen eligibility first |
| What it takes to join | Varies, sometimes a deposit | An application through the state program |
| How long | Ask about recent openings | Can be many months (see below) |
If your parent will pay privately, only the first matters. If your parent will need Medicaid help, you may be on both, and the community must also accept Medicaid. The Alzheimer's Association notes that some communities do and others don't.
Questions to ask before joining a community's list
The National Institute on Aging suggests asking early whether a community has immediate availability or a waiting list. The Alzheimer's Association goes further: consider putting your name on a waiting list even if you're not ready to decide. Either way, get the rules clear first.
- How many people are ahead of us for the apartment type we want?
- How many of that type opened up in the last six months?
- Is there a deposit? Is it refundable, fully or partly, and when? Is it applied to the community fee or first month's rent?
- How are offers made: by phone, email? How long do we have to accept?
- If we decline an offer, do we keep our place or go to the bottom?
- Does anyone get priority, such as current independent living residents or people already in your memory care?
- Could my parent take a different apartment now and transfer later?
- Do you offer respite stays while we wait?
Deposits and their refund rules are covered in detail in assisted living deposits: refundable or not.
When you ask to join, try: “We'd like to join your list. Before we pay anything, could you email me your waitlist policy: the deposit terms, how offers are made, how long we have to accept, and what happens if we say not yet?”
How Medicaid waiver waiting lists work
Where a state's Medicaid program helps with assisted living, it may do so through a home and community-based services (HCBS) waiver, which states can cap. When more people apply than there are slots, states keep waiting lists.
KFF's 2025 survey of state Medicaid programs found:
- 41 states had waiting lists or interest lists for HCBS.
- More than 600,000 people were on those lists in 2025. About three quarters were people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Older adults and adults with physical disabilities made up about 23%.
- For waivers serving older adults and people with physical disabilities, the average wait before receiving services was 15 months.
- Some states screen people for eligibility before adding them to a list and others don't, so a list position doesn't guarantee eligibility.
By contrast, Medicaid.gov states that nursing facility services must be provided to eligible adults who need them and cannot be put on waiting lists. That doesn't mean every nursing home has a bed, but the benefit itself isn't capped.
If Medicaid may be part of the plan, apply early and ask your state Medicaid office or Area Agency on Aging how the list works in your state. Our post on whether Medicaid pays for assisted living explains the programs.
Which paperwork can expire while you wait?
An opening can come with little notice, and some admission paperwork has a shelf life. Two examples of state timing rules:
- California: the medical assessment must be made within the last year before acceptance.
- Florida: the medical exam must be done within 60 days before admission, or within 30 days after.
Keep a “ready folder” and check it monthly: the current medication list, insurance cards, legal documents, the doctor's contact, and the date each medical form was completed. When a form is close to expiring, book the doctor visit before the call comes. Tuberculosis screening can have its own timing. See the TB test for assisted living.
Be ready the day the phone rings
When an apartment opens, communities may want a move-in date within days. Parent Move Plan has 30, 45 and 60-day versions with 79 tasks on real dates counted back from move-in, and a triage list for short timelines, so you can start the right tasks now and compress later.
Get your first 3 days freeWhat to do in the meantime
While you wait, close the biggest safety gaps at home first.
- Add help at home. The CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 put the national median for a non-medical in-home caregiver at $35 an hour. Target the riskiest hours, such as the morning bath or the evening routine. See assisted living or in-home care for how to size it.
- Consider adult day. These programs offer daytime supervision, meals and company, and the 2025 national median was $95 a day.
- Book a respite stay at the community you're waiting for, if it offers one. Your parent gets to know the place, and staff get to know your parent.
- Start downsizing gently. Sort a closet a week so the final push isn't a crisis.
- Set a monthly check-in with each community on your list. A friendly call keeps you on their radar.
How many lists should you join?
Join lists only at communities you would accept today if the call came. A list you'd turn down ties up a deposit and gives a false sense of progress. For most families that means two or three communities, chosen after tours.
Keep a simple tracker with one row per community: date joined, apartment type requested, deposit paid and its refund terms, your position when you last asked, the contact person, and the date of your next check-in call. If siblings share the calls, the tracker keeps everyone from phoning the same director twice in a week.
Revisit the list whenever your parent's needs change. A community that fit last spring may not fit if memory care is now on the table.
When the call comes
Ask for the proposed move-in date, how long you have to accept, and when rent starts. Then decide quickly but not blindly: see the apartment, measure it, and confirm the assessment and paperwork are current.
If the timeline is short, moving a parent into assisted living in two weeks shows how to compress the move without skipping what matters. For the usual sequence, the 30-day move guide lays it out.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the waitlist for assisted living?
There's no standard answer for a community's own list. Ask each one how many people are ahead of you for the apartment type you want and how long recent openings took. Medicaid waiver lists can be much longer: KFF's 2025 survey found an average wait of 15 months for waivers serving older adults and people with physical disabilities.
Do you have to pay to get on an assisted living waitlist?
Some communities ask for a deposit to hold a place on the list, and others don't. Before paying, ask in writing whether it's refundable, under what conditions, whether it's applied to the community fee or first month's rent, and what happens if you turn down an offer.
Can you be on more than one waitlist?
Yes. Being on two or three lists at communities you'd accept improves your chances of an opening when you need it. Keep track of any deposits and each community's rules for accepting or declining an offer.
Is there a waiting list for Medicaid nursing home care?
No. Medicaid.gov states that nursing facility services must be provided to eligible adults who need them, and states may not put them on waiting lists. That's different from home and community-based waiver programs, which states can cap. According to KFF, 41 states had waiting or interest lists for them in 2025. A specific nursing home may still have no open bed.
Sources
- KFF: A Look at Waiting Lists for Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services from 2016 to 2025 (accessed Sept 2026)
- Medicaid.gov: Nursing Facilities (accessed Sept 2026)
- Alzheimer's Association: Residential Care (accessed Sept 2026)
- National Institute on Aging: How To Choose a Nursing Home or Other Long-Term Care Facility (accessed Sept 2026)
- The Florida Statutes: Section 429.26, Appropriateness of placements; examinations of residents (accessed Sept 2026)
- California Code of Regulations, Title 22, Section 87458: Medical Assessment (accessed Sept 2026)
- CareScout: Cost of Care Survey 2025 (accessed Sept 2026)