Federal Panel Hears Medicare Dementia Benefits Overhaul Plan
The council shapes federal efforts to study dementia, stop dementia and pay for dementia care.
Originally, the council was supposed to find a way to cure or prevent dementia quickly, then shut down in 2025. Congress is considering two companion bills, S. 133 and H.R. 619, that would renew funding for the council through 2035.
The Care Coverage Proposal
The Snyder team noted that the dementia care center at UCLA Health, which has ties to the UCLA medical school, earned a passing grade on 92% of the quality indicators used, and that typical community-based physicians have a passing rate of just 18%.
The UCLA Health program provides patient care, caregiver care, medication management and 24-hour access to advice, according to the team’s presentation.
The Snyder team suggested that, once a Medicare enrollee had a confirmed dementia diagnosis, the enrollee could enter pathways aimed at patients with one of three different stages of dementia — mild; moderate or severe, with enough informal care support; and moderate or severe, without enough informal care support.
A care center would reassess the enrollee every year.
Expanded Medicare efforts to assess and manage dementia could create demand for the need assessment and care management services offered by private long-term care insurers and their vendors, such as Assured Allies, Genworth’s CareScout unit and illumifin’s LTCG long-term care insurance administration business.
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