We are Sue Ryan and Nancy Treaster. As caregivers for our loved ones with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia, we are excited to have Nurse Practitioner Amy Imes, the program lead for the Medicare GUIDE Program at Emory University, join us to share insights about the new Medicare GUIDE program (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience). GUIDE is a U.S. Medicare pilot program, with the goal of providing better support and resources for persons living with dementia and their caregivers.
With big announcements happening on July 1, 2025, we’re bringing you this overview so you can understand what GUIDE is and how to know if you can participate in it.
Amy Imes is a board-certified gerontological nurse practitioner who is experienced in both primary and dementia care. She is a trusted expert in geriatrics, demonstrating a deep understanding of the unique healthcare needs of the aging population. Throughout her career, Amy has played a pivotal role in building care models. This experience is very important to the GUIDE program and to developing the teams who yield superior outcomes. In addition to her clinical work, Amy is a member of Emory University’s Integrated Memory Care team, which is a nurse practitioner-led primary care practice for patients living with dementia.
It’s important for us to support GUIDE so we prove this pilot works and GUIDE can become a standard part of Medicare. It will be ideal for the U.S. to prove it’s worth so we can help other countries take advantage of these kinds of valuable support.
There are 390 programs across the country that have been vetted by Medicare to provide GUIDE, so it’s got great potential to have a positive impact for people living with dementia.
One of the most significant points about this program is it’s fully funded by Medicare. Nancy and I prioritize this as something that really stands out because Medicare is recognizing the dementia family caregiver.
There are an estimated 12 million caregivers in the United States who are providing more than 18 billion hours of unpaid support. These are the family caregivers, specifically for people living with dementia. Recognizing this demographic, and doing such a responsible job with this program, is both impactful and transformational.
What the GUIDE Program Offers
The GUIDE program offers comprehensive support that’s never been available through Medicare before:
- One-on-one support and coaching by dementia proficient providers
- Care navigation through an often difficult and chaotic healthcare system
- Education and training resources for caregivers
- Respite care offering for Medicare beneficiaries is unprecedented, offering up to $2,500 annually in respite support.
Today we’re sharing three essential tips about the Medicare GUIDE program.
Tip 1: Understand Your Eligibility
If this sounds like something that you would be interested in, here’s how to find out if you’re eligible:
Basic eligibility requirements:
- Must have Medicare Parts A and B: Traditional Medicare needs to be the primary payer since this is a Medicare pilot program
- Medicare Advantage not eligible: Unfortunately at this time, beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage aren’t eligible (this may change down the road)
- Cannot be in hospice: Patient cannot be enrolled in hospice care
- Cannot live in skilled nursing: Patient cannot live in a long-term care skilled nursing facility (assisted living is okay).
What you get when eligible:
- Comprehensive assessment by a dementia proficient provider — Medicare requires providers to be experts in their field
- Interdisciplinary team approach: Not just one provider, but an entire team of people who can work with different aspects of your life and caregiving responsibilities
- Dedicated care navigator: Someone specific to help you successfully navigate the system
- Proactive support: Medicare realizes caregivers are overwhelmed and busy, so programs are required to be proactive in reaching out and offering resources.
Additional services included:
- One-time home assessment: Someone with a trained eye comes to see what day-to-day looks like, and recommends modifications (sometimes it’s as simple as moving a nightlight or putting a picture of a commode on the bathroom door)
- Dedicated education and support for caregivers navigating each stage of the disease
- 24/7 support: Personalized help that’s tailored to the care you’re getting
- Care coordination: Acts as quarterback and overseer, coordinating with your existing medical team.
Tip 2: How to Find a GUIDE Program Near You
The 390 organizations are divided into two tracks:
- An Established Program Track with 96 organizations that started in July 2024
- A New Program Track with 294 organizations that launched in July 2025.
How to search:
To find a GUIDE program near you:
1. Go to this CMS website page and put in your state and under models. Select ‘Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model’.
2. Select ‘Display selected’.
3. Use the plus and minus signs in the upper right corner to zoom in closer to your area and find the program closest to you.
4. Explore options — there may be several programs that cover your zip code.
Geographic service areas:
- Medicare designates the service area for each participating program to ensure quality care delivery.
What to expect:
- Multiple options possible: Particularly in larger metropolitan areas, there are likely to be multiple GUIDE program offerings.
Tip 3: How to Integrate GUIDE with Your Existing Medical Team
GUIDE is an add-on to your current care that doesn’t create conflict.
Key questions to ask potential GUIDE programs:
- How will you coordinate with my existing specialists and medical team?
- What’s expected from me? (frequency of contact, office visits vs. tele-health vs. phone calls)
- What classes are available and how are they offered? (in-person vs. Zoom vs. self-directed)
- What support groups do you offer? Make sure they match your specific situation (e.g.: A 30-year-old daughter caring for a mother with early-onset Alzheimer’s may need different support than spouses caring for their husbands).
Your responsibilities in the program:
- Ongoing assessments measure: Caregiver stress and burden, quality of life for persons living with dementia, and stages of dementia progression
- Honesty: Answer assessment questions truthfully; this is not the time to sugarcoat anything
- Help prove the program works: Medicare — and the world — needs to see how hard caregiving can be and how much these services help.
Program commitment:
- No long-term commitment required: While Medicare has dedicated to fund this program for eight years to measure outcomes, there’s no commitment required from participants
- Voluntary participation: It’s an additional Medicare benefit with no cost to patients.
Why This Matters
Amy emphasizes there’s really no downside for people joining the GUIDE program
The more we put into a program like this, the more we’ll get out of it in the long run. This is a pilot program is for those living with diagnoses of a type of dementia and for caregivers. Training and respite matter — they really do move the needle.
The impact is huge when we think about our lives, the lives people here in the United States — and potentially around the world. It’s a great opportunity to access support that’s fully funded by Medicare, while helping prove that supporting dementia caregivers works.
If you’ve been a participant in GUIDE already — or you know something about the GUIDE program, feel free to put any tips you might have on our Facebook page or our Instagram page.
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