Abstract
When a family member or friend is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the initial reaction is often sadness and distress at what the future may hold. Over the course of the disease progression, families and caregivers are faced with an array of health and legal issues. As our society ages and our life expectancy steadily increases, the number of people directly touched by this disease expands. This will have significant ramifications for health care and legal policy. Questions of the use and limitations of advance care plans, and their implication for participation in research, continue to arise. The influence of Medicare coverage policy on access to health care and the implications of Alzheimer’s disease and behavioral complications for our health and legal systems must be further explored. In this chapter, we examine these multifaceted issues and identify policy challenges for the future that should seek to balance the interests of the various stakeholders with the need to protect individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Notes
- 1.
Alzheimer’s Association, 2012 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, Alzheimer’s & Dementia, Volume 8, Issue 2.
- 2.
Lyketsos, C., Lopez, O., Jones, B., Fitzpatrick, A., Breitner, J., & DeKosky, S. (2002). Prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia and mild cognitive impairment: Results from the Cardiovascular Health Study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(12), 1475.
- 3.
Bynum et al. Also, Alzheimer’s Association (2011) Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 7(2).
- 4.
The Carrier Advisory Committee is an advisory committee that provides an opportunity for physicians (and a beneficiary representative) to discuss development of local coverage policies and administrative policies and to discuss other relevant issues that are within the carrier’s discretion. See CMS Medicare Program Integrity Manual 13.8.1.1.
- 5.
Section 1860D-11(e)(2)(D)(i) of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit of the Medicare Prescription, Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003.
- 6.
Testimony of Donna Cohen, PhD (2004, March 22). Hearing on crimes without criminals? Seniors, dementia and the aftermath.Senate Special Committee on Aging.
- 7.
Prevalence of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment; Results from the Cardiovascular Study, JAMA, September 25, 2002-Vol. 288(12), 1475.
- 8.
42 C.F.R. §410.155. Congress enacted a law that will gradually phase in Medicare payment to 80% by 2014.
- 9.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148, as amended), §6121.
- 10.
Nursing Home Reform Law, 42 U.S.C. §1395i-3 et seq and 42 U.S.C. §1396r et seq.
- 11.
42 C.F.R. §483.25.
- 12.
42 C.F.R. §482.43.
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Schwartz, J., Fried, L.B. (2013). Legal Issues for Caregivers of Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease. In: Zarit, S., Talley, R. (eds) Caregiving for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders. Caregiving: Research • Practice • Policy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5335-2_11
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