There are large disparities in out-of-pocket costs for the three diseases. Medicare covers discrete medical services like office visits and acute care, including hospitalization and surgery. These are the types of expenses experienced by cancer patients and heart patients. Those patients usually don’t need full-time home or nursing home care until the very end of their life, if at all. As a result, they don’t see that continuing cost. On the other hand, dementia patients need constant care for years. In addition, these dementia patients may not be sick enough for a nursing home, but they still will need supervision and care.
When dementia patients are sick enough for a nursing home, the cost is not covered by health insurance. More than half of patients with dementia- with three-quarters of those from racial minorities-spend down, using savings to pay for the nursing home until the money is all gone. After that, Medicaid takes over.
Talk with an experienced elder law attorney about care for the elderly, Medicaid, and dementia. He or she will have ideas on how to best address your family’s situation.
