Respite care — up to five days, so you can sleep
If you are the one doing the caring, this page is for you. Medicare covers up to five consecutive days of inpatient respite care so that you can rest, travel, recover from your own illness, or simply stop for a moment. Using it is not a failure. It is the benefit working as designed.
What respite care actually is
Your loved one goes to a contracted facility — usually a skilled nursing facility we work with — for up to five consecutive days. They are cared for around the clock. You go home and sleep, or go to your grandson’s wedding, or have the surgery you have been postponing for a year.
Then they come back home and routine hospice care picks up exactly where it left off. It is not a move, it is not a transfer of care, and it is not the beginning of the end of home care.
When to use it
- You have not slept properly in weeks. Caregiver exhaustion is a clinical problem, and an exhausted caregiver makes medication errors.
- You are ill yourself, or need a procedure, or have your own appointment you keep cancelling.
- There is a family event you should not miss — a wedding, a graduation, a funeral.
- You are at the edge. If you have started snapping at the person you are caring for and hating yourself for it, that is not a character flaw. That is the signal.
- Other family are travelling in and you want the handoff to be sane.
You do not have to justify it. Nobody will ask you to prove you are tired enough. Call your nurse and say you need respite — that is the whole process on your end.
What it costs
Respite care is part of the Medicare hospice benefit. Some plans apply a small coinsurance — commonly around five percent of the Medicare-approved amount for the respite stay — and many families pay nothing. We will tell you your exact number before you commit to dates, not after. See full coverage details →
The other kinds of relief nobody tells you about
Respite is the formal, five-day version. There are smaller forms of help available every week, and families routinely forget to ask:
- CNA visits that take over bathing and personal care — often the hardest, most physical part of your week.
- Trained volunteers who sit with your loved one for a couple of hours so you can leave the house, run errands, or have coffee with someone.
- Continuous home care during a genuine crisis — extended nursing hours in your home, so you are not managing a symptom emergency alone at night.
- Night-time phone support. Calling a nurse at 3am instead of lying awake deciding whether to call is itself a form of rest.
- Social work support for you, not just the patient — including the conversations with siblings who are not helping.
Respite care questions
How often can we use respite care?
Respite is available on an occasional basis, up to five consecutive days at a time, and it can be used more than once during hospice care. It is not designed as a standing weekly arrangement — but if that is what you actually need, tell us, because there are other supports that are.
Where would my loved one stay?
At a facility we contract with, usually a skilled nursing facility here in the area. We will tell you exactly where before you agree to anything, and you can visit any time during the stay.
Will this confuse or upset them?
A change of setting can be disorienting, particularly with dementia, and we will be honest with you about the trade-off for your specific situation. What we weigh it against is real too: a caregiver who is past their limit is a risk to the person they are caring for. Sometimes five days apart is the kinder choice for both.
How much notice do you need?
For planned respite — a wedding, a surgery — a week or two lets us line up the best option. In an urgent situation, call anyway. We have arranged respite in a day when a caregiver was genuinely at the end of their rope.