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Check us yourself. Medicare publishes the list of every organization licensed to deliver GUIDE. Go to the CMS GUIDE Model page and click “GUIDE Providers (Participant List).” JVS Health is on it. Anyone who says they are a GUIDE participant and is not on that list is not telling you the truth.

You can also call Medicare directly at 1-800-633-4227. And note what we never ask for: no Social Security number, no bank information, no income information. The only number we need is the Medicare number, so we can confirm coverage with Medicare.

JVS Health holds the Medicare contract to deliver the GUIDE program. ianacare is our partner platform, and it runs the site where you checked eligibility and supports you once you are enrolled. Two names, one program. Medicare selected only a few hundred organizations in the country to do this work, and JVS Health is one of them, serving New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

It is covered in full by your loved one’s existing Medicare benefits. No cost sharing, no deductible, no copay, nothing to buy. We bill Medicare directly and you never see a bill.

It is not income-based and there is no asset test. It does not touch Social Security, it does not use up or reduce any other Medicare or Medicaid benefit, and it does not affect future Medicaid eligibility. There is no contract, and you can leave the program at any time.

It is new. GUIDE launched in July 2024 as an eight-year Medicare model, and it only applies to dementia, so many doctors have not come across it yet. It is essentially the only long-term in-home support Medicare pays for, and the goal is to keep people in their own homes and out of nursing homes and emergency rooms.

Three things:

• A confirmed diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or dementia. Any type counts, including Lewy body, vascular, and frontotemporal.
• Traditional Medicare, the red, white and blue card with Parts A and B, as their primary insurance.
• A home in our service area, either their own home or, in most cases, assisted living.

Not eligible: Medicare Advantage plans, the Medicare hospice benefit, PACE, and full-time nursing home care. If you are not sure which of these applies to your family, book the call and we will work it out with you.

No. A supplement, sometimes called Medigap or a secondary plan, only picks up the share that Medicare does not cover, so traditional Medicare is still primary and she still qualifies. A Part D drug plan is fine too.

An Advantage plan is different. It replaces Medicare rather than adding to it, and that is what disqualifies. These are easy to mix up, which is exactly why we check coverage with Medicare directly instead of asking you to figure it out.

This happens constantly. Five ways to get it:

• Log in to her account at Medicare.gov
• Pull a benefit letter from SSA.gov
• Call 1-800-633-4227, with her present on the line
• Ask the front desk at any doctor she has seen recently
• Look for a Medicare Summary Notice in her mail

Or read it to us over the phone and we will handle the rest: 718-606-4960.

We serve families in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Coverage is set by ZIP code, so the fastest way to know for certain is to ask us. The person with dementia has to live in the service area, but you do not. Care navigation happens by phone and video, so an out-of-state caregiver is not a problem at all.

GUIDE requires a documented dementia diagnosis, and many families are one doctor’s visit away from having one. If a diagnosis exists but you do not have the paperwork, we can request the records from her doctor. If there is no diagnosis yet, book the call anyway and we will tell you exactly what to ask for at the next appointment.

Assisted living generally qualifies. Full-time nursing home care does not, and neither does the Medicare hospice benefit or PACE. If she is in rehab temporarily and coming home, she can qualify, and it is worth starting now rather than waiting for discharge, since Medicare approval takes a few weeks.

Memory care and other specialized residential settings depend on the specific facility. Tell the nurse where she lives and we will give you a straight answer.

Four things make the call go quickly:

• Her red, white and blue Medicare card
• The name of the doctor managing her dementia
• A current list of her medications
• The consent forms, completed in advance. About 10 minutes.

If you are missing any of it, book anyway. None of it stops the call from happening.

Most of the questions are for you, and you answer on her behalf. Her part is five to ten minutes of simple baseline questions. If she cannot answer them, or gets upset, we stop right there. The point is not to upset anyone.

Our nurses do this every day and they are discreet. If you would rather they did not use the word dementia in front of her, say so and they will not. Some families split it into two calls, or do the caregiver portion first. Any of that is fine.

You can sign for her as her caregiver or representative. That is normal and expected, and power of attorney is not required. One thing to watch on the forms: the beneficiary is the person with dementia, and the caregiver is you. That is the most common mix-up. If anything is unclear, call or text 718-606-4960 and we will go through it with you.

We submit to Medicare right after your nurse call. Approval typically takes a few weeks, and services usually begin within about a month of enrollment. Your nurse will give you a realistic timeline for your family on the call.

Two main things.

A care navigator. One person assigned to your family, most of them licensed social workers who work only with dementia. The same person every time. They check in monthly at minimum, coordinate appointments, transportation and meals, find community resources and grants, run caregiver trainings and support groups, and staff a line you can call at any hour.

Respite care. Paid hours where a trained aide comes to the house so you can sleep, run errands, or leave for a while. Respite is available to qualifying caregivers up to an annual allowance, and your nurse will tell you what your family’s looks like based on the assessment.

Also included: a home safety assessment, caregiver training, and support groups.

Certified nurse assistants with in-home dementia experience, from Medicare-approved agencies, with federal background checks. They can do companionship, light housekeeping, laundry, cooking, errands, bathing, dressing, toileting, and medication reminders. They cannot do skilled nursing.

You choose the person. There is a meet-and-greet first, and if it is not a fit we find someone else. We keep the same aide for your visits whenever we can. Spanish-speaking aides are reliably available and we do our best on other languages.

No. GUIDE is additive. It sits on top of Medicaid hours, CDPAP, VA benefits, visiting nurses, city aging programs, and long-term-care insurance. Your aide comes Monday to Wednesday, ours comes Thursday and Friday. It fills the gaps.

The only real conflicts are another GUIDE provider, since a family can only be with one at a time, plus hospice, PACE, and Medicare Advantage.

No, and no. She keeps every doctor she has. We do not change medications, we do not change treatment plans, and we do not order tests. We share the care plan with her doctors and work with any office. Her Medicare benefits stay exactly as they are.

Yes, any time. The program is voluntary, there is no contract, and leaving costs nothing and affects nothing else. If you want to move to a different GUIDE organization later, you can, and we will help with the paperwork.

Yes, and many families do. Put it in your back pocket. Getting enrolled while things are calm means the support is already in place on the day you need it, and approval takes a few weeks either way. Nothing expires by not being used.