Caregiver burnout: straight answers
Does Medicare pay for respite care?
As part of hospice care: when the hospice team arranges a short inpatient stay to give the caregiver a rest. You may pay 5% of the Medicare-approved amount.
Medicare.gov describes respite as part of the hospice benefit. Medicare covers a stay in a facility when “the hospice team determines that you need short-term inpatient or respite care services that they arrange.” For inpatient respite care, you may pay 5% of the Medicare-approved amount, and that copayment can’t be more than the inpatient deductible.
Outside hospice
Medicare.gov’s hospice page describes respite only as part of hospice care. For anything else, it’s worth asking someone who knows your parent’s plan. SHIP, the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (opens in a new tab), offers one-on-one help with Medicare in each state: call 877-839-2675 or choose your state at shiphelp.org.
Other places to look
How to find respite care near you: ARCH’s locator and the Eldercare Locator, which can point you to local programs.
More questions caregivers ask
- What is respite care?
- How do I find respite care near me?
- Can I take time off work to care for a parent?
- All the caregiver burnout questions
From Centis, a free care notebook you talk to. None of this is medical or legal advice.
Further reading
- Hospice care (opens in a new tab), from the Medicare.gov (US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
- State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) (opens in a new tab), from the State Health Insurance Assistance Programs, supported by the US Administration for Community Living