How Medicare Advantage's new hospice coverage affects end-of-life care for people with Alzheimer's and related dementias
Impact of the Medicare Advantage Hospice Carve-In on End-of-life Care Outcomes among Beneficiaries with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia
This project compares end-of-life care for people with Alzheimer's and related dementias before and after Medicare Advantage began covering hospice to see how hospice use and care patterns change.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Brown University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Providence, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11191412 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project looks at how including hospice benefits inside Medicare Advantage affects people like me who have Alzheimer's or a related dementia. Researchers will use national Medicare records from before and after the policy change to compare hospice enrollment, length of stay, and rates of leaving hospice early for people with dementia. They will compare areas with high and low Medicare Advantage enrollment and counties that adopted the hospice carve-in versus those that did not, and try to separate the policy's effects from other trends over time. The goal is to show whether hospice access and the quality of end-of-life care for people with dementia changed after the carve-in and where any problems are most likely to occur.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: This work focuses on Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias, especially those enrolled in or eligible for Medicare Advantage and hospice services.
Not a fit: People who are not on Medicare, who do not have dementia, or whose care is entirely outside Medicare Advantage may not see direct benefit from this specific project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could guide policies to keep hospice accessible and stable for people with dementia, reducing disruptive hospice disenrollments and improving comfort near the end of life.
How similar studies have performed: Prior research has documented hospice disenrollment and differences in end-of-life care for people with dementia, but analyzing the specific impact of the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Providence, United States
- Brown University — Providence, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Belanger, Emmanuelle — Brown University
- Study coordinator: Belanger, Emmanuelle
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.