People’s families that consist of dementia caregivers and dementia people alone could be affected by this medicare 5 year look back plan that if you spent, gave away, or funded a trust with most of your assets for Medicaid in the last five years, that money will be counted in your assets. This is because 5 years may be too long until they qualify for the assets that they may receive. With that being said, many families suffer a lot within those 5 years which may be too long for some families. Our petition aims to change the policy of the 5 year plan to a shorter period of time so that families can get the aid that they need properly. For example, The average per-person Medicare payments for services to beneficiaries age 65 and older with AD or other dementias are almost three times as great as payments for beneficiaries without these conditions, and Medicaid payments are more than 22 times as great. Total payments in 2022 for health care, long-term care and hospice services for people aged 65 and older with dementia are estimated to be $321 billion.This shows how expensive caring for a dementia patient is and shows that their families should get all the aid they need.

As ​Alzheimer's disease and dementia itself is increasing rapidly, the number of caregivers will increase too  because their families would have to step in with that responsibility. With a harsh plan that only allows someone with dementia to get home care after 5 years, the caregiver and dementia patients quality of life decreases waiting for government aid. Many struggle financially and emotionally as the 5 years pass. In order to combat this, we want the law to change to 3 ½ years instead of 5.

As more and more people are diagnosed with dementia, it is critical that the government change their policies to allow more people to access the treatment they need without worrying about financial ruin. This would decrease the stress on family caretakers since they can devote their attention to caring for their family member instead of worrying about the money. By signing this petition, you are telling the local government that you feel that this is a necessary change that must be implemented to better the quality of life of the patient and their caretakers.