Are Medicare Advantage Plans Steering Enrollees to Lower-Quality Nursing Homes?
A new study has found that people enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan were more likely to enter a lower-quality nursing hom...
Read moreThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that Medicare plans to cover positron emission tomography (PET) scans to help determine whether beneficiaries with dementia have Alzheimer's disease.
People diagnosed with dementia and who have experienced a six-month decline in cognitive abilities would be eligible for the scans. In addition, for patients with early signs of dementia but no clear diagnosis of it, Medicare will provide some coverage to patients enrolled in clinical trials aimed at testing the usefulness of PET scans. CMS is working to foster the development of such clinical trials.
PET scans accurately diagnose Alzheimer's about 90 percent of the time, but the scans are expensive, costing up to $1,500. Nevertheless, early diagnosis of Alzheimer's is important, since research has shown that starting drug treatment early can help slow the disease's progression.
Alzheimer's disease is an age-related and irreversible brain disorder that occurs gradually and results in memory loss, behavior and personality changes, and a decline in thinking abilities. It is the most common cause of dementia, representing approximately two-thirds of cases.
CMS has released the coverage decision in draft form and is accepting public comments.
For the CMS press release, go to: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/media/press/release.asp?Counter=1092
Local Elder Law Attorneys in Your City
A new study has found that people enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan were more likely to enter a lower-quality nursing hom...
Read moreA new payment method for Medicare providers is making it harder for some home health care patients to receive physical, occup...
Read moreAdvocates are seeing an increase in the number of individuals who have delayed enrolling in Medicare Part B under the mistake...
Read moreNow that 2010 has arrived, people whose incomes were previously too high to permit them to rollover . . .
Read moreMedicaid Rules, etc