It’s no secret that senior care costs both real dollars and intangible costs for providing care and those costs are especially high for Alzheimer’s care. A new report released last month from the Alzheimer’s Association, “Changing the Trajectory of Alzheimer’s Disease: A National Imperative” shows that in the absence of disease-modifying treatments, the cumulative costs of care for people with Alzheimer’s from 2010 to 2050 will exceed $20 trillion and predicts that the number of Americans age 65 and older who have this condition will increase from the 5.1 million today to 13.5 million by mid-century.
The report project that Total costs of care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease by all payers will soar from $172 billion in 2010 to more than $1 trillion in 2050, with Medicare costs increasing more than 600 percent, from $88 billion today to $627 billion in 2050. During the same time period, Medicaid costs will soar 400 percent, from $34 billion to $178 billion. These costs will increase substantially as more individuals will be in the severe stage of the disease which costs more to treat and manage.
“We know that Alzheimer’s disease is not just ‘a little memory loss’- it is a national crisis that grows worse by the day,” said Harry Johns, President and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association. “Alzheimer’s not only poses a significant threat to millions of families, but also drives tremendous costs for government programs like Medicare and Medicaid.”
While the report has some drastic numbers, it shows that Medicare and Medicaid can achieve dramatic savings with even incremental treatment improvements including disease modifying treatments and treatments that slow the progression of the disease.
For the full report, visit Changing the Trajectory of Alzheimer’s Disease
