Memory Care Gap: GAO Report Shows Less than 2.5% of Medicare Beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s Receive Cognitive Assessment
Senior Housing News December 13, 2023
Between 2018 and last year, use of cognitive assessment and care plan services tripled , but few Medicare beneficiaries who qualify received the service, according to a recent study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The GAO study found that, at most, 2.4% of Medicare beneficiaries with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder received this service. The number of Medicare beneficiaries living with cognitive impairment is expected to increase as the U.S. population ages and skews older.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) started covering cognitive assessments and related care planning in 2017.
“Under Medicare guidelines, providers can deliver the cognitive assessment service to patients showing signs of, or already diagnosed with, a cognitive...