The key with IRIS is managing your budget. Your IRIS budget is distributed monthly. Think of it as a trust, as in you won't get a check. You will work with the IRIS financial center, AKA ILife, to submit your time reports and pay your caregivers. You can borrow from future months for your budget, but your budget doesn't accumulate. If you are a few dollars over, there's no need to panic, as it automatically borrows against the next month. However, if you are consistently over budget, you should talk to your consultant and maybe discuss a budget amendment.
There are two ways to view your budget. You can view your budget on the ILife portal. To see your budget, click Statements on the top menu. The chart tracks your budget overtime, with the purple bar tracking your budget and the orange line tracking your spending. The bottom dataset breaks down your budget by month. If there are any amounts in red, that indicates that you were over budget. You will also receive a statement from iLife detailing your budget.
You can also go through a process called one time expense. With this, you can pay for expensive equipment without using your budget. This is useful in the sense that it pays for equipment that Medicare won't pay for. For example, Medicare normally doesn't cover the elevating feature on wheelchairs. You can use IRIS funds to cover this. You can also do home modifications with IRIS funds. Keep in mind, either of these situations require time and justification on your part.
