A “better business model for the diagnosis and care of persons with Alzheimer’s disease” needs to be created, Jason Karlawish, MD, said Wednesday at a Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee on Health hearing.
“The majority of persons with Alzheimer’s disease are over 65 and so covered under Medicare,” said the professor and co-director of the Penn Memory Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. “Medicare, therefore, has a key role in shaping the business model for the care of persons with Alzheimer’s disease.”
The hearing was called by committee Chair Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), ranking member, timed to coincide with National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. Toomey, who said his father and grandfather had the disease, is co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease.