Respite Care for Family Caregivers in Pennsylvania: Medicaid-Funded Options

If you’re a family caregiver in Pennsylvania and the last time you had a full day to yourself is a memory you can’t quite place, respite care exists specifically for you. It’s funded through Medicaid, it’s a covered service under Community HealthChoices, and you don’t have to justify needing it.

Respite care provides temporary relief for the primary caregiver by arranging for a substitute caregiver to step in for a defined period. It’s not a luxury. It’s a recognized component of sustainable home care — and it’s built into the system.

What Respite Care Looks Like in Practice

Respite care in Pennsylvania can take several forms depending on what your loved one’s care plan includes and what works for your family.

In-home respite means a substitute caregiver comes to the home while the primary caregiver takes time away. This could be for a few hours, a full day, or in some cases, overnight. The substitute might be another family member, a professional home care aide, or someone arranged through the MCO’s provider network.

Adult day programs provide respite by having your loved one spend time at a structured program outside the home — typically during daytime hours. These programs offer social activities, meals, and supervision, giving the primary caregiver a block of uninterrupted time.

Short-term facility-based respite involves your loved one staying temporarily at a residential facility while the primary caregiver takes an extended break — a weekend, a few days, or in some cases up to two weeks. This is less common but available in situations where the caregiver needs a longer period of rest or has a personal obligation (their own medical procedure, a family event, etc.).

How to Get Respite Hours Added to the Care Plan

If your loved one is enrolled in Community HealthChoices and receiving home care services, respite may already be available as a covered benefit under the care plan. If it’s not currently included, you can request it.

Contact the MCO’s service coordinator and explain that you — the primary caregiver — need periodic relief. The service coordinator can evaluate whether respite hours can be added to the existing care plan. In many cases, it’s as straightforward as a care plan amendment.

If respite isn’t already part of the conversation when your care plan is being developed, ask for it explicitly. Service coordinators don’t always proactively offer respite — not because it isn’t available, but because the focus tends to be on the care recipient’s needs rather than the caregiver’s. You may need to advocate for yourself, and that’s completely appropriate.

Why Caregivers Resist Respite — And Why They Shouldn’t

The most common reason caregivers don’t use respite care is guilt. The feeling that taking a break means abandoning their loved one. The worry that no one else can provide the same quality of care. The belief that needing a break is a sign of weakness or insufficient love.

None of that is true. Research consistently shows that caregivers who take regular breaks provide better care over longer periods. They experience lower rates of depression and anxiety. They maintain their own health — which matters, because a caregiver who burns out or gets seriously ill can’t provide care at all.

Respite isn’t the opposite of dedication. It’s what makes dedication sustainable.

What Respite Costs

When respite care is included in the Medicaid-funded care plan through CHC, it’s covered at no out-of-pocket cost to the family. The MCO covers the expense as part of the participant’s authorized services. This includes both in-home respite and adult day program respite.

If you want respite beyond what’s covered in the care plan, some options exist through community organizations like the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA), local faith-based programs, and caregiver support organizations. These may offer additional respite hours on a sliding-scale or volunteer basis.

CareChoice Can Help

CareChoice helps Philadelphia families ensure that respite care is part of the conversation from the beginning — not an afterthought when the caregiver is already at the breaking point. Whether you need help requesting respite hours, understanding what’s covered, or finding the right substitute caregiver arrangement, we’re here.

Contact CareChoice → Philadelphia team

Related: Caregiver Burnout: How PA Programs Help → | Get Paid to Care for Family in PA →