Build your family's stack — a 60-second check
Five quick questions about your situation — not a contact form. At the end you will see, on this screen, which of the three layers below your family actually has, with the real published numbers. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you ask the owner to review your case at the very end.
1 · Who would be paying for care?
2 · Their monthly income — roughly which range?
3 · Is a veteran in this picture?
4 · Where does Medicaid fit?
5 · How soon does something need to change?
Your answers stay in your browser while you answer. They are only sent if you use the form at the end — and then they go only to Bella Vita's owner.
The short answer
A monthly price for care is almost always a stack, not a single check: the resident's own income forms the base; a veterans benefit, when it applies, adds a real monthly amount on top; and for families whose income genuinely cannot reach, Florida Medicaid Long-Term Care can pay for the care portion while the family covers room, board, and the remaining share — agreed in writing, in advance. The rest of this page takes the stack apart, piece by piece, with links to the full guide for each source.
The mistake to avoid
Comparing the full price of care against one Social Security check — and concluding "we can't afford any of this" — skips every other source in the stack. The second mistake is the opposite one: assuming a program pays everything. Medicaid, for example, never pays room and board in assisted living. Honest math sits between those two mistakes, and it starts with knowing which pieces your family actually has.
PART 1The stack: three sources that combine
1 · Social Security + pension — the base
The resident's own monthly income — Social Security, plus a pension or other steady income where it exists — is the foundation nearly every family builds on. It rarely covers a full monthly price by itself, and it was never really meant to be compared that way: it is layer one of the stack, and the family's own contribution is planned around what remains after the other layers are counted.
2 · VA Aid & Attendance — the layer veteran families miss
For wartime veterans and surviving spouses who need daily help, Aid & Attendance adds a monthly pension amount on top of everything else. The 2026 maximums (VA.gov) are $2,424/month for a veteran alone, $2,874/month for a veteran with a spouse, or $1,558/month for a surviving spouse — the VA sets the actual award from countable income, and the cost of care itself can change that math in the family's favor. Our VA Aid & Attendance check walks the eligibility tests in about three minutes.
3 · Florida Medicaid Long-Term Care — the care portion, for those who qualify
Florida's SMMC Long-Term Care program can pay a licensed assisted living home for authorized care services for residents who meet the state's medical and financial rules. It never pays room and board — the resident and family cover that part, usually from the resident's own income, with the supplement agreed in writing before anyone moves in. Screening, a wait list, and plan authorization come first; our Medicaid Long-Term Care guide explains the whole process step by step, including how to start it through the Elder Helpline (1-800-963-5337).
How the Medicaid split can add up — a round-number illustration
| Hypothetical home's total monthly price (generic example figure) | $5,000 |
| Paid by the LTC plan for authorized care services (illustrative, ≈) | − $1,800 |
| Paid by the resident / family (the supplement: room, board & the remaining share) | $3,200 |
The arithmetic: $1,800 + $3,200 = $5,000. Every figure in this box is a generic round number chosen only to show how the split works — the same illustration used in our Medicaid guide. It is not Bella Vita's price, not any plan's promised rate, and not any family's actual supplement. Where does the family's share come from? Layer one — the resident's Social Security or pension — with family help when income alone doesn't reach, and a veterans benefit added when it applies.
PART 2How the combination works at Bella Vita
- Medicaid Long-Term Care, with Simply Healthcare, begins December 1, 2026 at Bella Vita — for the available semi-private bed (male). The family supplement is agreed in writing before move-in, so the monthly math is settled before anyone packs a suitcase.
- Veterans: if your family has an Aid & Attendance award — or has never checked — bring it to the conversation. It is a real layer of the stack here, and the 3-minute check tells you whether applying is worth it.
- Private pay: families who do not use Medicaid stack income, savings, a home sale, or long-term care insurance instead — the structure is the same, only the layers differ.
- The final price is set by a free care evaluation — because what a person needs day to day is what the price must reflect. The evaluation is free, done by the owner, the same day you call, and it comes with no obligation.
PART 3Each source, explained in full
Medicaid Long-Term Care in Florida
Who qualifies, how the wait list and screening work, what the plan pays and what it never pays, and the Simply Healthcare start at Bella Vita on December 1, 2026 — the complete guide, step by step.
VA Aid & Attendance Check
The VA's three tests — service, medical need, and the income/assets test where care costs change the answer — plus the 2026 maximum amounts, in a plain-English check that takes about three minutes.
Assisted Living Costs by State
The CareScout 2025 medians for Florida and the states Palm Bay families most often move from, side by side — so the stack is planned against real published numbers, not guesses.
Palm Bay Senior Resources
The free public doors every Brevard family should know — the Elder Helpline (1-800-963-5337), SHINE counseling, plan enrollment help, and where to verify any facility's license and inspections.
Alejandro Cardozo — Owner and Administrator
Bella Vita is a six-resident home in Palm Bay where one caregiver can truly know every resident — their medications, their routines, how they take their coffee. I handle admissions and families myself: when you call, I answer, and care evaluations happen the same day. Every Friday, families receive a written report on their loved one's week — appetite, medications, activities, and anything that changed.
Bella Vita Assisted Living Facility · 1405 Graves St SE, Palm Bay, FL 32909 · AHCA License #14019 · (407) 914-5350
Official sources — verify everything here
Benefits and licenses are government business. Check every claim — including ours — here:
- VA.gov — Aid & Attendance and Housebound benefits: eligibility and the current maximum amounts (the 2026 maximums cited above come from the VA, as detailed in our VA check).
- AHCA — SMMC Long-Term Care program and recipient FAQs: ahca.myflorida.com — LTC Recipient FAQs
- Elder Helpline / Aging & Disability Resource Center — the free front door to Florida LTC screening: 1-800-963-5337. Florida Medicaid Choice Counseling (enroll or change plan, 1-877-711-3662): flmedicaidmanagedcare.com — Enroll
- CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025 (Genworth / CareScout) — the source of the Florida median cited above.
- AHCA — FloridaHealthFinder: verify any facility's license and inspections at floridahealthfinder.gov — Bella Vita is AHCA License #14019.
Questions about your family's situation?
The affordability question is really an arithmetic question, and arithmetic is easier with your real numbers on the table. Call Alejandro at (407) 914-5350 and walk through your family's stack — income, veterans benefits, Medicaid — and he will tell you plainly what combines and what the honest monthly picture looks like. Or book a tour and come see the home in person. The care evaluation is free, and it happens the same day you call.