By Louisville Senior Advisor Care Team · October 3, 2026
Kentucky's OIG lists 33 adult day health programs in the seven Louisville-area counties, 29 in Jefferson County. CareScout's 2025 Kentucky median is $22,880 a year for five days a week, about $88 a day, and the HCB waiver lists adult day health as a covered service.
What is adult day health care in Kentucky?
Adult day health programs are licensed by Kentucky's Office of Inspector General under 902 KAR 20:066. They provide supervised daytime care at a center: health monitoring, help with personal care, meals, activities and social contact, with nursing oversight. The person goes home each evening, so the program is often what lets a working family caregiver keep a parent at home.
It is different from a senior center, which offers activities without health oversight, and from home care, which comes to the house.
Where are Louisville's adult day programs?
OIG's October 2026 Miscellaneous Directory lists 33 programs in the seven counties. They are spread more evenly across Louisville than assisted living is.
| Area | Programs |
|---|---|
| Okolona, Buechel & Hikes Point | 7 |
| Jeffersontown & Fern Creek | 6 |
| Shively, PRP & Valley Station | 5 |
| St. Matthews & Lyndon | 4 |
| Germantown, Audubon Park & South End | 3 |
| Downtown, Old Louisville & West End | 2 |
| Middletown & East End; Highlands | 1 each |
| Oldham County (La Grange) | 2 |
| Bullitt County (Shepherdsville); Shelby County (Shelbyville) | 1 each |
Spencer, Henry and Trimble counties have no licensed program on the current directory.
What does adult day health cost, and who pays?
CareScout's 2025 Kentucky median is $22,880 a year for five days a week, which works out to about $88 a day or $1,907 a month. That is far less than eight hours of home care at Kentucky's roughly $32.50 hourly median (about $260 a day).
Kentucky's Home and Community Based (HCB) waiver lists adult day health care among its services for Medicaid members 65 and older or physically disabled who meet nursing-facility level of care; DMS reports a waiting list ordered by application date. PACE, available in Jefferson and Bullitt counties, can also include day-center care. Long-term care insurance policies often cover licensed adult day health. Medicare does not.
What should families ask a program?
Ask about hours and whether they fit your work schedule, whether the program provides transportation in your ZIP code and how long the ride is, whether a nurse is on site all day, how medications are given, how the program handles wandering and agitation, what a typical day looks like, and whether it accepts HCB waiver or PACE participants. Ask for the license number and check it on our roster; several Louisville operators run more than one site, each separately licensed.
A trial day is common. Watch how staff greet your parent and whether the activities fit their interests.
Who is adult day health right for?
It fits people who can travel to a center, benefit from structure and company, and live with someone in the evenings and overnight. It is a good bridge in early dementia, after a stroke, or for someone isolated at home. It fits less well for someone who becomes distressed by transport or needs care through the night. Many families combine three or four program days with a few hours of home care.
How does adult day health fit with other Louisville services?
For many families the best plan layers services. KIPDA's Meals on Wheels covers lunches at home on days without the program, a personal services agency covers mornings or evenings, and the adult day program covers the working day. If a parent later needs more, adult day experience makes the transition to assisted living easier, because they are used to group settings and staff help.
KIPDA's Aging & Disability Resource Center at (502) 266-5571 can explain which services a parent may qualify for and start HCB waiver intake. Licensed home care agencies are listed on our home care roster; adult day programs are on the adult day roster, both filterable by county and city.
What if there is no program near us?
In Spencer, Henry and Trimble counties, which have no licensed program on the current directory, families sometimes drive to La Grange, Shelbyville or Jeffersontown a few days a week, or use in-home care and respite instead. The HCB waiver's respite services, for eligible members, can partially substitute where a day program is out of reach.
Does adult day health require a doctor's order?
Programs generally ask for a recent physical, a medication list and the participant's diagnoses before enrollment, and HCB waiver participants need the services written into their plan of care. Ask each program which forms it needs and how long enrollment takes. Some programs can start within a week or two when space is available; others keep waiting lists for particular days.
Frequently asked questions
How much is adult day care in Kentucky?
CareScout's 2025 Kentucky median is $22,880 a year for five days a week, about $88 a day.
Does Kentucky Medicaid pay for adult day care?
Yes, through the HCB waiver for eligible members who meet nursing-facility level of care, subject to a waiting list, and through PACE where available.
How many adult day programs are in Louisville?
OIG's October 2026 directory lists 29 in Jefferson County and 33 across the seven KIPDA counties.
Who licenses adult day health in Kentucky?
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Office of Inspector General, under 902 KAR 20:066.
