{"id":5200,"date":"2019-07-09T14:20:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T19:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.appliedpolicy.com\/staging\/7403\/?p=5200"},"modified":"2019-07-10T14:24:43","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T19:24:43","slug":"the-real-world-medicare-costs-of-alzheimers-disease-considerations-for-policy-and-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appliedpolicy.com\/staging\/7403\/the-real-world-medicare-costs-of-alzheimers-disease-considerations-for-policy-and-care\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real-World Medicare Costs of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease: Considerations for Policy and Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” gap=”35″][vc_column][vc_column_text]At the end of June, the\u00a0Alliance for Aging Research\u00a0(the \u201cAlliance\u201d) announced the results of a Medicare claims study which found that families and state Medicaid programs, not Medicare, are burdened with the majority of costs associated with Alzheimer\u2019s disease (Alzheimer\u2019s) The study<\/a>, conducted by the Alliance and\u00a0Milliman, was published in the July issue of\u00a0Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy<\/a>. The results demonstrate the importance of better diagnosis, treatment, and care of individuals with Alzheimer\u2019s, which could lead to more favorable patient outcomes and improved costs for state Medicaid programs and caregivers.<\/p>\n

The study, titled \u201cThe Real-World Medicare Costs of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease: Considerations for Policy and Care,\u201d examined almost 340,000 Medicare beneficiaries using nine years of Medicare claims data and compared end of life costs in the years prior to the death of individuals with Alzheimer\u2019s disease and dementia to individuals without dementia. The study found that even though many Medicare beneficiaries are impacted by Alzheimer\u2019s disease, Medicare spending on Alzheimer\u2019s disease is low. Medicare covers medical screening, diagnosis, treatment and only limited short-term care associated with Alzheimer\u2019s. It is families and state Medicaid programs who bear the brunt of the remaining costs of this expensive disease.\u00a0 In addition, the study shows that:<\/p>\n