My husband is on hospice. I want to be his caregiver. Can I get paid to do this?

RobinHyde, I know how very hard this is. My heart goes out to you. To have a spouse on hospice and then to have financial concerns on top of it is stressful and heartbreaking. Of course you want to be there for your husband. You also need to pay the mortgage or rent and put food on the table. And it is even harder since noone is ever certain how long hospice will last. I truly feel for you. (I had to support us through my husband's dementia.)

Hospice expects the family to provide round-the-clock care; they only visit periodically. But how can you provide that level of care and travel for work?

This is just a personal opinion, and definitely not a judgement. I would do everything I could to protect my career for the future, but stop working for the duration of hospice. I'd talk with personnel and my boss, and try to ensure I could come back when this is over. I would take family leave and vacation days. If there was ANY aspect of my job or some other job in the company that I could do from home, I would work that out.

Meanwhile, with the help of a financial advisor -- perhaps my banker -- I'd figure out what assets to use to get by without working for a few months. If we had two cars I'd sell one. (Actually, I did.) You lose more using up some assets than with others, so getting advice for this is a good idea. (Unless your profession is financial advising!)

I really feel for you. I wish I had more good-news advice.

Robin, sorry to hear that your husband is on hospice. Your husband can pay you from his social security or any pension he is getting.

Note that the majority of people do not get paid for taking care of their spouse, parents, aunt, uncle, child, or family friend.

No, Medicare only provides Hospice care through contracted agencies. There's just not enough time to train you for this assignment, but if you want to work in health care in the future, ask the Hospice nurse.