Medicare Cognitive Assessments: Utilization Tripled Between 2018 & 2022, But Challenges Remain

On December 6, 2023, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) published this report to Congressional committees that found that Medicare cognitive assessment utilization tripled between 2018 and 2022, but challenges remain. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, includes a provision for GAO to review use of the cognitive assessment service in the Medicare program. This report describes utilization of the cognitive assessment service in traditional Medicare from 2018 through 2022, takeholder views on challenges providers face delivering and beneficiaries face accessing the service, and steps that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken to increase awareness of . . .