Health Care Reform To Detect Alzheimer's
According to the Society of Actuaries, the leading cause of U.S. long-term care claims is Alzheimer's, the brain disease that renders over 5 million Americans unable to handle all the acts of daily living unaided.
President Obama states in an article he wrote "What Health Care Reform Means for the Alzheimer's Community" -- that the recent health reform legislation, the Affordable Care Act, will assist Alzheimer's sufferers and their caretakers in several ways:
-- Require new health insurance plans to cover preventive services;
-- Reduce out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries;
-- Make Alzheimer's-related training available for long-term care employees; and
-- Offer a new long-term care insurance public option -- the CLASS Act.
Part of the Health Care Reform that becomes effective is the annual wellness visit for Medicare beneficiaries beginning January 2011. The care is part of the comprehensive health care reform legislation known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
New reforms under the Affordable Care Act begin to bring to an end some of the worst abuses of the insurance industry. These reforms will give Americans new rights and benefits, including helping more children get health coverage, ending lifetime and most annual limits on care, and giving patients access to recommended preventive services without cost-sharing. These reforms will apply to all new health plans, and to many existing health plans as they are renewed. Many other new benefits of the law have already taken effect, including rebate checks for seniors in the Medicare donut hole and tax credits for small businesses. And more rights, protections and benefits for Americans are on the way now through 2014.
As the leading research, advocacy, and support organization for Alzheimer's disease, the Alzheimer's Association® has been actively involved in efforts to increase early detection of Alzheimer's and other dementias. To provide better medical care and outcomes for individuals with Alzheimer's and other dementias, possible dementia must first be detected, followed by diagnosis and notation in a patient's medical record. To provide this foundation for better care to Medicare beneficiaries, the Alzheimer's Association® is pleased that cognitive impairment has been included in the Annual Wellness Visit for older Americans.
As baby-boomers move into the after-65 age group, they will benefit from the health care modifications and reforms. The Alzheimer's Association® has established the Medicare Cognitive Impairment Workgroup comprised of stakeholders and national thought leaders with expertise in the detection of cognitive impairment. The group will come together in January to build consensus around appropriate methods and processes that can be used in the primary care setting to detect possible cognitive impairment during the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit.
they are there. And the other disturbing news is that most hospital errors are never reported. One sure way to hear about them is when lawyers, fighting for consumers, file lawsuits against hospitals for negligence that causes injury to patients.
We normally attribute smoking to lung cancer. A 
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