This year, total care payments for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are predicted to exceed a quarter of a trillion dollars. This, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, is the second year in a row that payments for Alzheimer’s care have been this high. This year’s cost will be nearly $20 billion higher than last year’s cost.
Costs are so high and continue to rise because the number of Americans who are living with Alzheimer’s and dementia increases each year. Currently, an estimated 5.7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s. By 2050, it is estimated that 14 million Americans will be living with the disease by then. Researchers think that early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and dementia could be the key in saving money on cost of Alzheimer’s care.
By identifying the disease early, the United States could save about $7.9 trillion over the average lifetime of a person living with Alzheimer’s. Advances in the science and the healthcare fields mean that fewer people may die from this disease, and early detection means that people can start to get treatments sooner.
