TRICARE: Extended Care Health Option (ECHO) Respite Care

The Department of Defense is amending the TRICARE regulation to allow an ECHO program beneficiary to receive, when authorized, up to sixteen (16) hours of respite care per month without a prerequisite to receive other authorized non-respite care during the same month. Currently, Active Duty Family Members who are eligible for the ECHO program can receive a maximum of 16 hours of respite care per month, in any calendar month in which the beneficiary receives other non-respite ECHO benefits (referred to as "concurrent" care). As the specific requirement for a concurrent ECHO benefit, which was originally implemented to ensure optimal medical management of the beneficiary's ECHO-qualifying condition, is no longer necessary and may serve as an inappropriate barrier to receipt of respite services for some families, this final rule will eliminate the concurrent ECHO benefit requirement and allow an ECHO beneficiary to receive up to a maximum of 16 hours of respite care per month, regardless of whether another ECHO benefit is received in the same month.