The economic cost of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias to the California Medicaid Program (''Medi-Cal'') in 1995

Author(s): Lang, K., Friedman, M., Neumann, P., Cummings, J. L.

Journal/Book: Amer J Geriatr Psychiatr. 1999; 7: 1400 K St N W, Ste 1101, Washington, DC 20005, USA. Amer Psychiatric Press, Inc. 300-308.

Abstract: Although state Medicaid programs may bear a large portion of the costs of Alzheimer's disease (AD), current information on spending is not available. Using a health insurance claims database for a 10% random sample of California Medicaid (''Medi-Cal'') recipients 60 + years of age, the authors estimated the excess cost of AD to Medi-Cal in 1995 as the difference in expenditures between an AD cohort (those with AD or related dementias) and an age- and sex-matched cohort without AD. Among 62,450 recipients, 2,575 (4.1%) were found to have AD or related dementias, and their average payments were approximately $7,700 higher (P<0.01) than those for the comparison group. These estimates suggest that Medi-Cal spends about $200 million on AD and related dementias annually a burden that represents nearly 10% of state spending on elderly patients.

Note: Article Menzin J, Harvard Univ, Boston Hlth Econ Inc, 5 Suburban Pk Dr, Billerica,MA 01821 USA

Keyword(s): CLINICAL COMORBIDITY INDEX; ADMINISTRATIVE DATA; NURSING-HOME; SYMPTOMS

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