Medicare covers care-planning sessions for people with Alzheimer's

by Herb Weisbaum Thursday, February 20th 2020

Alzheimer's disease, like all forms of dementia, affects both the patient and the family.

Help is available.

Medicare offers a care-planning benefit. It pays for people with cognitive impairment to meet with their doctor about how to manage their disease. This benefit has been around since 2017, but a lot of physicians and patients don’t know about it.

"Care planning, we know, is essential for the person living with the disease as well as their partner and family,” said Erica Farrell with the Washington state chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. “People who receive proper care planning are shown to have fewer hospitalizations and emergency room visits and better medication management."

Farrell encourages families to arrange a care-planning session with the patient's physician.

"During a care-planning session the provider will go over options for support services, medication management, possible clinical trials the person may be eligible to enroll in,” she said.

You’ll also want to address safety management – including any changes needed to accommodate the effects of cognitive impairment – caregiver stress and needs, and non-medical treatments or options that may improve the person's quality of life.

There are many strategies, things that don’t involve medication, that the care partner and families can do to really help the person at home,” Farrell told me.

https://komonews.com/news/consumer/medicare-covers-care-planning-sessions-for-people-with-alzheimers