Four federal programs unpaid caregivers ask about, in plain language. Each summary was checked against the agency's public page on September 21, 2026.
Read this before you rely on this page
This guide does not decide whether you or the person you care for qualifies. The agency that runs the program makes that decision.
Rules, forms, and dollar amounts change. Before you apply, leave a job, give up income, or move money or property, use the official link in that section. You can also talk with the agency, a benefits counselor, or an elder law attorney.
State programs, including Florida, are not listed here.
A benefits finder that covers more programs is being reviewed by an elder law attorney. It is not open yet.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Checked September 21, 2026, against the U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet #28, revised March 2025.
What it is
FMLA is a federal law that protects time off work for certain family and medical reasons. For eligible employees of covered employers, it provides up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period to care for a child, spouse, or parent with a serious health condition.
The leave is unpaid, unless your employer's own paid leave covers the same time. The employer must continue group health coverage on the same terms and must return you to the same job, or a nearly identical job, when the leave ends. When it is medically necessary, leave can sometimes be taken in smaller blocks of time instead of all at once.
Who it may help
The Department of Labor says an employee is eligible after at least 12 months with that employer, at least 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months before the leave starts, at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.
Covered employers include a private employer with 50 or more employees for 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous calendar year, a public agency, and an elementary or secondary school, including a private school. Public agencies and schools are covered even with fewer employees. Working part-time does not by itself end eligibility. The hour count is the test.
For this kind of leave, the family member is a child, spouse, or parent. The Department of Labor's questions page says a parent-in-law is not included. A sibling is not included in that group.
Military caregiver leave is separate. Fact Sheet #28 describes it, and Fact Sheet #28P says an eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered servicemember may take up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period.
A serious health condition follows the Department of Labor's definition. It generally involves a period when the person cannot carry out regular daily activities. An Alzheimer's diagnosis, by itself, is not the test.
The fact sheet lists the Wage and Hour helpline at 1-866-487-9243.
Medicaid long-term care
Checked September 21, 2026, against Medicaid.gov pages on long-term services and supports and on spousal impoverishment.
What it is
Medicaid is a health program run by each state under federal rules. It is the main public program that pays for long-term care for people who qualify. That care can include a nursing facility. It can also include home and community-based services, which are supports that help a person remain at home or in the community.
Income limits, savings limits, and the services a state covers are not the same in every state. This page does not list those numbers.
What caregivers often need to know
When one spouse needs Medicaid long-term care, federal spousal impoverishment rules can protect some income and savings for the other spouse. The protected amounts change, and the state applies the rules. This page does not list the amounts.
Some state Medicaid programs can pay a family member for certain home services. Other programs do not, or they limit which relatives can be paid. Do not assume a family caregiver will be paid. Read the rules for that state program first.
Medicare is a different program. Medicare generally does not pay for long-term custodial care, such as ongoing help with bathing and dressing when that is the only care needed. Medicare explains long-term care coverage on medicare.gov.
Before anyone gives away money or puts property in another person's name, talk with the state Medicaid agency or an elder law attorney. Medicaid looks back five years at transfers and can refuse to pay for a period afterwards. VA looks back three years separately, with a penalty that can run up to five years. A transfer made to qualify for one program can block the other, and dementia care usually ends in Medicaid.
Checked September 21, 2026. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs page was last updated May 8, 2026.
What it is
Aid and Attendance is extra money added to a VA pension for a qualified veteran or surviving spouse. It is not a separate benefit on its own. Housebound allowance is a different add-on to the same pension. VA says you cannot receive Aid and Attendance and Housebound benefits at the same time.
Who it may help
VA says you may be eligible if you get a VA pension and at least one of these is true:
You need another person to help you perform daily activities, like bathing, feeding, and dressing.
You have to stay in bed, or spend a large portion of the day in bed, because of illness.
You are a patient in a nursing home due to the loss of mental or physical abilities related to a disability.
Your eyesight is limited to the level VA describes on its Aid and Attendance page.
A diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is not, by itself, the test. VA looks at the need for help. A pension also has its own rules for wartime service, discharge, income, and net worth. Current dollar amounts are on VA's pension rates page. This guide does not copy those amounts, because VA updates them.
VA explains how to apply on the Aid and Attendance page, including VA Form 21-2680. A medical examiner must fill out the examination section of that form.
Checked September 21, 2026. The Internal Revenue Service page was last reviewed that day.
What it is
The Credit for Other Dependents is a federal income-tax credit. The IRS describes it as a nonrefundable credit for a dependent who is not eligible for the Child Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit. Nonrefundable means it can lower the income tax you owe. It does not, by itself, pay you more than the tax you owe.
The IRS page says the maximum credit is $500 for each dependent. It begins to decrease when adjusted gross income is over $200,000, or over $400,000 if married filing jointly.
Who it may help
The IRS says the person must be claimed as a dependent on your tax return, be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien, and have a Social Security number, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number.
A parent or another relative you support may fall under this credit if that person qualifies as your dependent. This page cannot tell you whether they do. IRS Publication 501 and the Form 1040 instructions explain who is a dependent.
If you qualify, the IRS says to claim the credit on Form 1040 and attach Schedule 8812. The same IRS page includes an Interactive Tax Assistant that asks questions about your own return.
The Eldercare Locator, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, can connect you with a local Area Agency on Aging. Those agencies help older adults and caregivers look up local services. They are not part of this website, and they decide what help they can offer.
Use the .gov links on this page. Do not pay a stranger who promises to get a benefit approved if you pay them first. Do not give anyone your Social Security number, bank account, or Medicare number because they contacted you unexpectedly.
Alzheimer's Companions will not call, email, or text you to ask for payment or for those numbers. This website has no form that collects them.