How to pay a relatives bill as xmas present?

My Dad has pretty much everything he needs, but on a fixed retirement income, I thought paying part of his bill would be a gift he could use. Is there a way to do that as a present where I can pay it without his advanced knowledge? With privacy, I can't think of how dish would allow that.

I hate the "cash" thing. He gives all of his kids cash. Giving him cash back seems silly to me. I prefer to give something he can have in his hand. Some kind of dish based gift card would work. Maybe a credit to his account or a gift card from Dish?

 

You don't need user ID and password to pay online?

Giving someone a gift card is not much different from cash. It means you don't even have the time to find out what they want. And ... giving a man a task of shopping seems cruel! ;-)

He's over 80 and doesn't get around much. He does watch TV quite a bit. I know the cost is getting to be too much. This is something he would actually appreciate. I live about 4 hours away. I try to go see him once a month. He never seems to need anything "consumable". He has plenty of clothes and does not want toys or things that sit on a shelf. Really hard to shop for!

I already sent him a "care package" of meats. I also got him a toy he will use, but yell at me for getting it. ;-) It's an indoor/outdoor weather station. He had one and it broke. He said he misses it. He's stubborn and will not let me get things for him. I know he needs help paying his bills, but will never accept it. The idea of paying online and telling him it's a Xmas gift will make him mad, but I know he'll accept it. And I know he'll have a less stressful year if he doesn't have to worry about having his TV turned off! He may not have very many more years left, so I sneak what I can past him to make his life just a little better.

Oh yeah, I tried paying his taxes a few years ago. He sent the money back. I have since "negotiated" a deal with him to pay some of it in return for using the land once a year.