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The number of US adults ages sixty-five and older who are living with dementia is substantial and expected to grow, raising concerns about the demands that will be placed on family members and other unpaid caregivers. We used data from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study and its companion study, the National Study of Caregiving, to investigate the role of dementia in caregiving. We found that among family and unpaid caregivers to older noninstitutionalized adults, one-third of caregivers, and 41 percent of the hours of help they provide, help people with dementia, who account for about 10 percent of older noninstitutionalized adults. Among older adults who receive help, the vast majority in both community and residential care settings other than nursing homes rely on family or unpaid caregivers (more than 90 percent and more than 80 percent, respectively), regardless of their dementia status. Caregiving is most intense, however, to older adults with dementia in community settings and from caregivers who are spouses or daughters or who live with the care recipient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicare's role in the distribution of mobility-related assistive technology has not been well documented, yet rapid growth and regional variation in spending, and concerns over "in-the-home" coverage criteria, highlight the need for facts. Using the 2001 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, we find that 6.2 percent percent of beneficiaries obtained mobility assistive technology under the Medicare durable medical equipment (DME) benefit. These beneficiaries were disproportionately poor, disabled, and users of both acute and postacute services. Average per item spending ranged from $52 for canes to $6,208 for power wheelchairs. Among beneficiaries who acquired such technology through the DME benefit, these devices comprised just 2 percent of overall Medicare spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Americans with disabilities have wide-ranging health care needs and face serious challenges in the health care system. This 2003 survey of 1,505 nonelderly adults with disabilities finds relatively large shares of people with disabilities reporting cost-related barriers to care. The study also reveals marked differences in cost-related experiences both between those with and without health insurance and across sources of coverage. These findings suggest the need for additional research, along with policies to provide health insurance to people with disabilities who lack coverage, to fill gaps in coverage among those with Medicare and private insurance, and to maintain coverage for Medicaid enrollees amid rising costs and state budget shortfalls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]