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Free Class On How To Pay For Alzheimer's

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Dealing with Alzheimer’s disease can take a toll on people emotionally and financially. A local organization is giving a free class in Albuquerque on Thursday about how to handle your finances when dealing with Alzheimer’s.

Tina De La Luz leads the New Mexico chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. She said Medicare and Medicaid don’t cover some of the costliest parts of Alzheimer’s, like assisted living.

“People don’t always have the means to put someone in a facility, or bring in outside help through in-home care agencies,” she said.

Assisted living costs an average of $3,600 a month, and families or the patients themselves are left paying those bills.

This class is meant to help caregivers and people who want to be ready if they ever develop Alzheimer’s. In New Mexico, there are more than 39,000 people living with the disease.

The local chapter also gives free classes on the basics of Alzheimer’s and how caregivers can practice self-care.

 
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Support for KUNM’s Public Health New Mexico project comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the McCune Charitable Foundation, the Con Alma Health Foundation, and from KUNM listeners like you.

May joined KUNM's Public Health New Mexico team in early 2018. That same year, she established the New Mexico chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and received a fellowship from the Association of Health Care Journalists. She join Colorado Public Radio in late 2019.
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