Greenville Senior AdvisorHow much does assisted living cost in Greenville, SC?
No Greenville figure is published; CareScout's 2025 South Carolina median for assisted living is $64,200 a year, about $5,350 a month, for a private one-bedroom.
Ask each facility for base rent and level-of-care fees in writing.
Does South Carolina Medicaid pay for assisted living?
Not directly as rent: South Carolina helps through Optional State Supplementation, a state payment to participating CRCFs for residents with net income under $1,804 a month in 2026, and through the Community Choices waiver's Residential Personal Care, which pays for care but not room and board in participating CRCFs.
OSS recipients also receive full Healthy Connections Medicaid for medical care.
What is the 2026 OSS payment amount?
Effective January 1, 2026, the maximum OSS payment to a participating CRCF is $1,719 a month, the net income limit is $1,804, and residents keep a personal needs allowance of $85 (SSI-only income) or $105 (other income), per SCDHHS Medicaid Bulletin MB# 26-001.
The figures change each January with the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.
What are the 2026 Medicaid limits for nursing home care in South Carolina?
South Carolina generally uses an income limit of $2,982 a month (300% of the $994 SSI rate) with a qualified income trust for income above it, a $2,000 countable resource limit for an individual, and a 60-month look-back for asset transfers.
Spousal rules protect part of a couple's income and assets for a spouse living at home.
How do we apply for Community Choices?
Call SCDHHS Community Long Term Care's Centralized Intake at (888) 971-1637 or use the online CLTC referral form; CLTC assesses whether the person meets nursing facility level of care, and the person must also qualify for Medicaid.
The Area Agency on Aging can help with the referral.
How much does home care cost per hour in South Carolina?
About $31 an hour, based on CareScout's 2025 South Carolina median of $71,786 a year for 44 hours a week of non-medical home care.
Below roughly 40 hours a week, home care usually costs less than the assisted living median.
Does every Greenville CRCF accept OSS?
No. Only CRCFs enrolled as OSS providers with SCDHHS accept Optional State Supplementation, and many larger private-pay communities in the Upstate do not, so ask each facility directly whether it participates and whether an OSS bed is open.
Smaller residential CRCFs are more likely to participate. If a parent may need OSS within a few years, choosing a participating facility now can prevent a forced move later, because a private-pay building that does not take OSS has no obligation to keep a resident whose money runs out.
What is a qualified income trust in South Carolina?
A qualified income trust, often called a Miller trust, is a legal arrangement that lets a person whose income is above South Carolina's $2,982 monthly long-term care Medicaid limit qualify by depositing the excess income into the trust each month, where it is used toward the cost of care.
An elder law attorney usually drafts the trust, and the deposits must be made every month for eligibility to continue. The trust does not reduce what the person pays toward care; it changes how the income is counted.
