Comprehensive Care for Alzheimer’s Act introduced in U.S. House
Washington, D.C., March 17, 2023 — Today the House introduced its companion bill of the bipartisan Comprehensive Care for Alzheimer's Act (S. 626 / H.R. 1637). This action follows the recent Senate introduction of this important bill, which will improve the way care is delivered for people living with Alzheimer’s disease.
"We know that dementia care management is a proven way to improve the quality of care and quality of life for those living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia, and now we know that it would also save the federal government billions of dollars," said Robert Egge, Alzheimer's Association chief public policy officer and Alzheimer's Impact Movement (AIM) executive director. "We look forward to working with Congress to pass the bipartisan Comprehensive Care for Alzheimer’s Act and take the next step on the path to high-quality dementia care."
The bipartisan Comprehensive Care for Alzheimer's Act, first introduced in the 117th Congress, was reintroduced today in the House of Representatives by Reps. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.), Tom Cole (R-OK) and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.). Thanks to the dedication of these congressional champions and AIM advocates, bipartisan support for this critical legislation reached 134 cosponsors in the House and 39 in the Senate last Congress. The Alzheimer’s Association looks forward to working with these congressional champions to continue growing bipartisan support for this critical legislation.
Caring for an individual living with dementia involves many unique and often challenging elements. Dementia care management is a model of care that enables individuals living with Alzheimer's and their caregivers to more seamlessly navigate the health care and social support systems and obtain more timely access to care. This legislation would ask the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test a different payment structure for dementia care management.
A recent budgetary analysis shows that providing better care as proposed in this legislation will also save Medicare money. The analysis, commissioned by AIM and conducted by health care consulting firm Healthsperien, found that better care through dementia care management would save the federal government nearly $21 billion over 10 years — while also improving the quality of life for individuals living with dementia and their families.
However, these programs will not develop on their own because health care practitioners would need to provide unreimbursed services without capturing these offsetting savings. To encourage and facilitate the development of dementia care management programs under Medicare, a change in the payment structure is necessary.
