An Estimation of the Financial Cost of Dementia – Fight Aging! Leave a comment

Coping with the damage and dysfunction of aging imposes a staggering cost. The funds dedicated to aging research are tiny compared to the funds spent on coping with the consequences of aging, and it is still the case that little of the activity taking place in the field of aging research is focused on establishing ways to slow or reverse aging. When looking a the consequences of aging category by category, the costs remain huge. Here, for example, find an estimate of the yearly costs imposed by the various forms of dementia in the United States alone.

The total economic burden of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in the United States will reach $781 billion this year according to a newly developed model produced as a part of the U.S. Cost of Dementia Project. An estimated 5.6 million Americans are living with dementia this year, including 5 million who are 65 and older. Medical and long-term care for patients with dementia will cost the United States $232 billion this year, including $52 billion paid out of pocket by patients and their families. More than two-thirds of the total cost of care is paid for by Medicare ($106 billion) and Medicaid ($58 billion).

Dementia’s societal costs are even more staggering, the model reveals. The largest share stems from a factor often not measured in other cost estimates: The significant decline in quality of life for patients ($302 billion) and care partners ($6 billion). Lost earnings among friends and family who forego work to provide care – another measure often not captured by other estimates – total $8.2 billion. Care partners provide 6.8 billion hours of unpaid care, valued at $233 billion.

Link: https://mann.usc.edu/news/u-s-dementia-costs-to-exceed-780-billion-this-year-usc-led-research-finds/