No. GUIDE is covered by Medicare, and there's no cost to your family for the program. No premium, no co-pay, nothing out of pocket. The one place cost can come up is respite, and only in two specific situations.
How the payment works
Medicare pays Vela Health, the GUIDE participant tendercare partners with. Vela Health pays its partners, including tendercare, for the services we deliver.
Your family is never billed for any of it. See Who is Vela Health, and why do I see their name?
The one place cost can come up
GUIDE covers up to $2,625 per benefit year in respite care, and the program pays the respite provider directly. You don't pay out of pocket and you don't wait to be reimbursed.
Two things can change that:
Your family uses more respite than the $2,625 covers.
You keep using respite after the funding is used up for the benefit year.
Those additional hours are yours to pay for.
The benefit year resets July 1, and unused funding doesn't carry over. See Respite care in the GUIDE Program for how that works.
Before respite starts
Confirm two things directly with the respite provider: their hourly rate, and how many hours $2,625 will cover at that rate.
Your tendercare Guide can help you work that out, but the agreement on hours and rate is between you and the provider. Getting it clear up front is what keeps a surprise bill from showing up later.
Questions about respite? Send us a message and we'll walk through it with you.