In-home respite care provides required care to an elderly individual while providing temporary relief to the usual caregiver(s) within the confines of the individual’s normal living situation.
Services are oriented toward maintenance/supervision and include:
- meal preparation;
- minor chores;
- minor personal care; and
- companionship.
A unit of service for in-home care is from eight to twelve consecutive hours of service to one individual, of which no more than four hours entail personal care or homemaker activities.
An eligible individual is allowed a maximum of 42 days per calendar year with the restriction that the cost of respite care, in any given month, combined with all other waivered MO HealthNet (MHN) Services provided in that month, do not exceed the average statewide cost, per resident per month, of Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) care. (These costs will be approved and monitored through the Division of Senior and Disability Services (DSDS) system).
In-home respite care services are obtained through authorized Title XIX providers.
NOTE: Respite services provided by members of the individual’s household or immediate family are not covered by MHN.