Alaska raises assisted living pay rate for low-income seniors to $113 a day

Alaska raised the daily reimbursement rate for assisted living homes serving low-income seniors from $109.32 to $113.13 for services provided on or after July 1, a 3.5% increase authorized when Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed the FY27 operating budget on June 26.

The Alaska Department of Health's Division of Senior and Disabilities Services applied the change immediately, without waiting for a regulatory update. The department will work later this year to draft and adopt regulations that set minimum rates reflecting the new daily figure.

The rate applies to the General Relief Assisted Living Home program. At $113.13 a day, the state payment works out to roughly $3,400 a month per resident.

Alaska's median assisted living cost reached $122,376 a year, about $10,198 a month, according to the 2024 Genworth and CareScout Cost of Care Survey, the second-highest figure in the country. Alaska Medicaid does not cover room and board in assisted living.

The Alaska Commission on Aging, an advisory board appointed by the governor, argued in its 2026 legislative priorities that the rate model is structurally misaligned. "ALHs are required to provide 24-hour care but are modeled at only 8 hours of direct care," the Commission said. "As resident acuity has increased and service expectations have converged with higher-care settings, reimbursement has not kept pace."

A similar approach was used in 2022, when the Division raised the Anchorage and Southeast rate from $70 to $104.30 to account for inflation since 2002. A director's letter at the time noted that regulations would remain unchanged until updated, the same approach the Division is taking now.

Assisted living costs in Alaska rose roughly 4% from 2022 to 2023 and were projected to climb another 6.5% in 2024, according to AssistedLiving.org, figures that outpaced the current 3.5% state rate increase.

The department's regulatory drafting process will set the formal minimum rate in 7 AAC 47.470. Until those regulations are finalized, the higher rate is in effect by budget authority alone.