Cuts to Medicaid will set the U.S. back 35 years in dementia care Reducing, rationing, or even closing services will be catastrophic for patients, families

https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/25/alzheimers-demetia-medicaid-services-support-pace-budget-cuts-caregivers/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8k8R_J4MHM2pm_743yXhFcwzw7ZB1ES4DnIPp1yFzHdvCMKPU3cVnQ90WBAvhGU-DxlJe2oD2ngPMYHRoRbVGR1kT0EQ&_hsmi=353393995&utm_content=353393995&utm_source=hs_email Over the past 35 years, the U.S. has built up systems to support people living with dementia and their caregivers — often through programs that rely on Medicaid funding. But the proposed federal budget calls for $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid over 10 years. If that happens, these programs that rely on Medicaid will likely need to reduce their services or potentially close down. “People are afraid. I’m afraid. They are afraid of what will happen to them if they get this disease. They are even more afraid of how their families will cope,” Hilda Pridgeon, a founder of the Alzheimer’s Association, told Congress in 1990 while advocating for more support. In a new First Opinion essay, physician Jason Karlawish argues that this fear “will once again beset the American family” if the dramatic budget cuts are made. Read the essay, which includes the stories of two patients from Karlawish’s memory clinic whose lives have been changed by Medicaid-funded programs.