Does Medicare Pay for Caregiver Training? Yes, Here's How (2026)

Since 2024, Medicare Part B has covered sessions in which a parent's doctor or therapist teaches a family caregiver hands-on skills, without the parent in the room.1 Medicare will pay for that caregiver training when the provider decides it belongs in your parent's treatment plan and your parent agrees to it, and the cost runs through your parent's own Part B coverage.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• Does Medicare Pay for Caregiver Training? The Short Answer
• Who Qualifies for Medicare Caregiver Training
• What the Training Can Teach You
• Who Can Train You
• What Medicare Caregiver Training Costs Your Parent
• How to Ask for Caregiver Training, Step by Step
• What This Benefit Is Not
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Does Medicare Pay for Caregiver Training? The Short Answer

Yes. Medicare caregiver training is a Part B service, which Medicare calls caregiver training services: the provider who trains you bills each session to your parent's Part B.1,3 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) created billing codes for caregiver training services in two rounds, the first set starting January 1, 2024 and a second set starting January 1, 2025.3

Plenty of caregivers have picked up a few tips while standing in the corner of an exam room. Caregiver training services are different: the session is built around you, and its content is tied to the care your parent needs at home.

Who Qualifies for Medicare Caregiver Training

Eligibility for Medicare's caregiver training services runs through the patient, not the caregiver. Your parent needs Medicare Part B, and a provider treating your parent has to decide that training you is appropriate for your parent's treatment plan.1

Medicare.gov says a caregiver is eligible for caregiver training services when both of these are true:

• The training focuses on helping the patient meet the health and treatment goals they set with their doctor or other health care provider.
• The patient needs a caregiver's help for their treatment to succeed.1

CMS also defines who counts as a caregiver for these services: someone who furnishes unpaid assistance to a person with a chronic illness or disabling condition and is in a position to help the patient carry out an established treatment plan or plan of care. An adult child, spouse, sibling or friend who does that unpaid day-to-day work can fit CMS's definition of a caregiver for these Medicare services. CMS places no limit on the specific diagnosis the patient must have, so caregiver training under Medicare isn't reserved for one condition such as dementia or stroke.1

There's one more gate, and it's easy to miss. For caregiver training under Medicare Part B, consent is required from the patient or, if applicable, the patient's representative before a caregiver receives the training, and that consent must be documented in the patient's medical record.1 If your parent can make their own decisions, they'll be the one to say yes. If someone else acts as their representative, that person gives consent instead.

What the Training Can Teach You

The training is tied to your parent's treatment goals, so the content should match what you actually do at home. Medicare.gov lists topics such as giving medications, helping with daily tasks, moving the patient safely, preventing bedsores and infections, and caring for wounds.1

The codes CMS added for 2025 name two specific kinds of caregiver training. CMS's calendar year 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule set up codes G0541 through G0543 for caregiver training in direct care services and supports, with topics that could include techniques to prevent bedsores (decubitus ulcers), wound care and infection control. For 2025, CMS also set up codes G0539 and G0540 for caregiver behavior management and modification training for the caregivers of an individual patient.3 If your parent's behavior is the hardest part of your day, behavior management training is the kind to ask about.

Who Can Train You

The Medicare providers who can give caregiver training include doctors, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse-midwives, physician assistants, clinical psychologists, and therapists, including physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists, according to Medicare.gov and CMS.1

In practice, the best person to ask is usually the one already treating your parent for the problem you need help with. If a physical therapist is already working with your father on walking and balance, for example, that therapist may be the natural person to ask about moving him safely. When a physical therapist, occupational therapist or speech-language pathologist provides direct-care caregiver training, the training is always furnished under a therapy plan of care.3

What Medicare Caregiver Training Costs Your Parent

The bill for caregiver training goes to your parent's Part B, not to you. CMS says the usual Part B deductible and coinsurance apply to caregiver training services, and it encourages practitioners to tell the patient that Part B cost sharing will apply. Medicare.gov puts the patient's cost for caregiver training at 20% of the Medicare-approved amount after the Part B deductible.1

For 2026, the Part B deductible is $283 for the year, paid once before Original Medicare starts to pay, so a parent who has already met it through other Part B care owes only the coinsurance for a training session.2,1

If money is tight, check whether your parent is enrolled in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program. Federal law prohibits Medicare providers from billing a QMB enrollee for Part B deductibles, coinsurance and copayments for Medicare-covered services.4 Our guide to QMB billing protections explains how that works, and the Medicare Savings Programs guide covers how to apply.

How to Ask for Caregiver Training, Step by Step

Medicare's 2024 caregiver training billing codes (97550 through 97552 and 96202 through 96203) are CPT codes, and its 2025 caregiver training G-codes (G0539 through G0543) are HCPCS codes.3

What This Benefit Is Not

Medicare's caregiver training benefit is a service your parent's provider delivers and bills to your parent's Part B.1 If you came here hoping Medicare would pay you for the hours you spend caring, that's a separate question, answered in our guide on whether Medicare pays you to take care of a family member.

Everything in this guide describes Medicare Part B. If your parent gets Medicare through a Medicare Advantage plan, call the plan and ask how it handles caregiver training services before you schedule anything.

Medicare isn't the only source of caregiver training. The National Family Caregiver Support Program funds caregiver training, along with counseling and support groups, through local Area Agencies on Aging and the organizations they contract with. Adult family members caring for someone 60 or older, or for someone of any age with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder, are among the caregivers the National Family Caregiver Support Program serves.5 Our guide to family caregiver training lays out every option side by side, including what's required if a state program pays you to provide care.

Learn More

Find personalized help asking your parent's doctor or therapist for caregiver training at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.