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American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1984 Dec;74(12):1381–1383. doi: 10.2105/ajph.74.12.1381

Senile dementia: public policy and adequate institutional care.

E M Brody, M P Lawton, B Liebowitz
PMCID: PMC1652681  PMID: 6439060

Abstract

Increasing costs of institutional care for the aged have occasioned a variety of government cost containment measures. People with senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type (SDAT) will be the principal group to suffer from cutbacks. SDAT patients are usually eligible for Intermediate Care Facilities (ICFs), rather than Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) and therefore for lower reimbursement. Because such patients require heavy care and are the ones most likely to be Medicaid-dependent, nursing homes are being provided with incentives to prevent admissions. At the same time, community services to aid overburdened caregivers are grossly inadequate. Costs to other parts of the health systems are increased by backups in acute hospitals when nursing home beds cannot be found. SDAT and Medicaid eligibility are the principal causes of such "administratively necessary" backup days, but in the main Diagnostic Related Groups (DRGs) may close even that temporary resource. Thus, virtually all avenues of care are shrinking for those who need them most.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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