Is assisted living licensed or certified in Kentucky?
Licensed. Since 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 20 took effect on July 14, 2022, Kentucky assisted living communities must hold an Office of Inspector General license; before that, the state certified them. KRS 194A.710 now bars any assisted living community from operating without a license.
Older articles and some community websites still say “certified.” The license type (ALC, ALC-BH or ALC-DC) is what to confirm today.
What does ALC-BH mean on a Kentucky assisted living license?
ALC-BH stands for an assisted living community with basic health care: a community licensed to provide basic health and health-related services, including medication administration and health monitoring, but without a secured dementia unit.
A plain ALC license is the social model, limited to assisting with self-administered medication.
Does Kentucky publish inspection reports for assisted living in Louisville?
Not online in a database. OIG's GenSearch inspection findings cover nursing homes and, since 2024, personal care homes; for assisted living, KRS 194A.707(10) requires the cabinet to make the most recent licensure review findings available to the public on request.
Ask the community first; ask OIG's Division of Health Care (502-564-7963) if it refuses.
Who inspects Louisville nursing homes?
Kentucky OIG's Division of Health Care inspects nursing homes for state licensure and, under contract with CMS, for Medicare and Medicaid certification; all long-term-care inspections are unannounced, and OIG's Northern Branch covers Jefferson County and the six surrounding KIPDA counties.
CMS publishes the federal results, including star ratings, on Care Compare.
Can a Louisville community call itself assisted living without a license?
No. KRS 194A.707(3) forbids any business from marketing itself as an assisted living community unless it has filed a current license application or holds an OIG license.
If a place markets assisted living but is not on OIG's directory, ask for its pending application number.
How often does Kentucky renew an assisted living license?
Kentucky assisted living licenses renew annually with a fee set by unit count, from $500 plus $40 per unit under 25 units to $2,000 plus $40 per unit at 100 or more, and OIG's directory lists each license's expiration date.
On OIG's October 2026 directory, 35 of the 76 Louisville-area assisted living licenses show “Pending Renewal” instead of a date, which usually means the renewal is being processed; ask the community for confirmation.
Is independent living licensed in Kentucky?
No license is required for independent living that provides housing and amenities without assisted living services; once a building provides assisted living services to five or more unrelated adults, it needs an assisted living license (KRS 194A.700(5)).
Continuing-care campuses often combine unlicensed independent living with licensed assisted living, personal care or nursing beds.
