What a Respite Stay Costs in California and Who May Help Pay

There is no published rate. California does not set what a licensed care home charges, and the main public survey of care costs does not have a respite category. The National Institute on Aging says professional respite services charge by the hour or by the number of days or weeks of care.

The nearest sourced reference is the long-term rate. CareScout's Cost of Care Survey reports a 2025 California median of $7,000 a month for a private one-bedroom unit in an assisted living community, which the survey also expresses as $230 a day. That is a monthly rate divided into days, not a respite quote. A short stay can be priced above or below it.

For comparison, the same 2025 survey gives California medians of $94 a day for adult day health care and $40 an hour for a non-medical caregiver at home. Our guide to caregiver burnout and respite options describes each kind of break.

Each home decides. Not every home offers short stays, and those that do need an open room for your dates. A home will usually want to assess your relative and see medical paperwork before it quotes a firm price. Our page on respite care placement lists what a home asks for.

Because nothing is standard, the useful work is asking the same questions of every home:

• Is the short-stay rate daily or weekly, and how does it compare with your monthly rate for the same room?
• Is there a minimum length of stay?
• Does the rate include care, or is a care charge added after your assessment?
• Is the room furnished, and are meals, laundry and medication help included?
• Is there any one-time fee for a short stay, and is any of it refundable if we cancel or leave early?
• If the stay becomes permanent, what rate would apply and from what date?

The National Institute on Aging says most private health insurance plans do not cover respite, that some long-term care insurance plans may, and that Medicaid, called Medi-Cal in California, may provide payment assistance. You pay whatever insurance and programs do not. If your relative has a policy, our guide to long-term care insurance in assisted living explains how to ask the insurer.

The possible sources, and where each one applies, are:

VA describes Respite Care as a program that pays for care for a short time when family caregivers need a break. It has two forms. Home respite pays for a person to come to the veteran's home or for the veteran to attend adult day health care. Nursing home respite pays for a stay in a VA Community Living Center or a community nursing home, and VA says it should be scheduled in advance.

VA says all enrolled veterans are eligible if they meet the clinical criteria and the service is available, and that services vary by location. A copay may be charged based on service-connected disability status and financial information. The VA social worker or case manager uses VA Form 10-10EC to work out the amount. VA's description does not list assisted living or board and care homes as respite settings, so ask VA directly before counting on it for a stay in one.

Medicare's respite coverage is part of the hospice benefit only. Medicare says that when the hospice team determines a person needs short-term inpatient or respite care and arranges it, Medicare covers the stay in the facility. The person may pay 5% of the Medicare-approved amount for inpatient respite care, and that copayment cannot be more than the inpatient deductible. The National Institute on Aging describes this as up to five consecutive days in a hospital or skilled nursing facility.

Medicare also says it does not cover room and board when a person gets hospice care at home or lives in a nursing home or hospice inpatient facility. So the hospice benefit should not be counted on to pay an assisted living home's short-stay rate. Ask the hospice team what it can arrange. For how hospice works inside a care home, see hospice in assisted living.

California has a statewide network of Caregiver Resource Centers. The California Department of Aging says every resident has access to one, and that each center provides its core services to families and caregivers at low or no cost. One of those services is respite care, described as financial assistance for temporary in-home support, adult day care services, short-term or weekend care and transportation. What a center can fund, and for how long, is for the center to say.

The second route is the Family Caregiver Services program run through local Area Agencies on Aging. The department says its services include arranging respite care, meaning temporary in-home or out-of-home relief. It is open to adult family members and other informal caregivers caring for someone 60 or older, or for a person of any age with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. You can find your local agency by calling 800-510-2020.

Neither program is an entitlement with a fixed dollar amount. Ask early, since funds and openings are limited. Other places to ask are in our guide to free help with senior care costs.

1. 1

   Fix the dates and the care needs

   Write down the dates you need covered, the help your relative needs each day and the medication list. Homes will ask for all three.

2. 2

   Ask the programs first

   Call the VA social worker, the hospice team, the Caregiver Resource Center or the Area Agency on Aging before you book, and ask what they can cover and in which settings.

3. 3

   Get written short-stay quotes

   Ask each home for its rate, minimum stay, inclusions and any one-time fee in writing, using the questions above.

4. 4

   Compare the total, not the daily rate

   Multiply the rate by the number of days and add any fee. A lower daily rate with a long minimum stay can cost more.

5. 5

   Confirm what the home needs before arrival

   Ask which medical form it requires and when, so paperwork does not delay the first day.

Hamssa Benrekia is a senior living placement specialist in Torrance who works with families in the South Bay and Harbor area of Los Angeles County. She can ask licensed homes she knows whether they have a room for your dates, including board and care homes, and help you compare their short-stay quotes. She does not arrange VA, hospice or Medi-Cal benefits, and she cannot promise an opening. To tell her your dates, contact Hamssa. More on the full decision is in the California Assisted Living Placement Guide.