You may be able to be paid for the care you already give.
Most families never find out. The hours you spend on a parent or partner — the meals, the meds, the driving, the watching — can, in real programs that exist right now, be paid work. Not always. Not for everyone. But far more often than anyone tells you.
Here's the honest version: these pathways are real, and we won't promise you a dollar amount. Whether your family qualifies depends on your situation. The point of this page is to show you the doors — and help you find out.
The real ways families get paid
Four pathways that actually pay family caregivers. Each says honestly what it is and who it's for.
Colorado Medicaid self-direction (CDASS & IHSS)
This is the big one, and most families don't know it exists. If your loved one has Health First Colorado (Medicaid) and needs a nursing-home level of care but wants to stay home, Colorado's self-directed programs let them hire and pay their own caregiver — and in many cases that caregiver can be you, a family member, even a spouse. A financial-management service handles the payroll and taxes. Since Community First Choice launched in 2025, there's no waitlist for the core benefit.
See if your family qualifiesIf your loved one is a veteran
The VA has two paths that pay family caregivers: the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (a monthly stipend paid to the caregiver) and Veteran-Directed Care (a budget the veteran directs, and can use to pay family). Eligibility is specific — but if there's military service in the family, this is worth checking first.
VA caregiver programsPay with pre-tax dollars (HSA/FSA)
Not income, but real money kept in your pocket: when care qualifies as medically necessary, a letter of medical necessity can document that it's eligible for your HSA or FSA — so you're paying for it with pre-tax dollars instead of after-tax ones. Whether a given situation qualifies is a real question with a real answer, not a promise. That's the ComfortCard path.
How the ComfortCard worksIf there's a long-term-care insurance policy
Many older adults have an LTC policy they bought decades ago and forgot. A surprising number of those policies will reimburse for in-home care — and some will pay informal or family caregivers, not just agencies. If a policy exists, it's worth reading the fine print before you spend a dollar out of pocket. The assessment flags this for you.
Add it to your assessmentWhat we won't do
We won't quote you a number we can't back, or show you a stranger's testimonial dressed up as a promise. co-op.care is a member-owned care cooperative, and it's early — honest about that. What we can do is the thing nobody else bothers to: sit with you, look at your actual situation, and tell you plainly which of these doors is open to your family — even when the answer is none of them yet.
A clear "here's what you qualify for," in writing, free. That's the whole offer.
Find out what your family actually qualifies for
A free assessment — about five minutes, no card, no commitment. It scans the pathways above against your real situation and gives you an honest read: what you may be eligible for, and what to do next. If the answer today is "not yet," you'll know that too, and why.