Nearly half of all people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias are in hospice care at the time of their death. Less than half of surveyed nursing homes have some sort of palliative care program. For people with advanced dementia, such care — which focuses on managing and easing symptoms, reducing pain and stress, and increasing comfort — improves quality of life, controls costs, and enhances patient and family satisfaction. But, as the demand for such care grows with the aging population, more must be done to ensure an adequately trained workforce. The Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act would increase palliative care and hospice training for health care professionals, launch a national campaign to inform patients and families about the benefits of palliative care, and enhance research on improving the delivery of palliative care.

Congress.gov

PCHETA

“The 114th Congress saw the advancement of critical legislation to increase access to care planning and support services. The Alzheimer’s Association, AIM, and our advocates led the way on the HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act (which was designed to provide comprehensive care planning services following a dementia diagnosis) to provide Medicare coverage for care planning services for those living with Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive impairments. Because of our efforts, congressional cosponsorship numbers soared, and in November 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a decision to pay for cognitive and functional assessments and care planning. In 2017, for the first time, people living with Alzheimer’s will have access to care planning with a medical professional covered by Medicare.

A new Medicare billing code–known as G0505–now allows clinicians to be reimbursed for providing care planning to cognitively impaired individuals.”