Cases of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease have reached epidemic proportions and it is now considered to be the number one public health crisis of the 21st century.

Experts expressed concerns over how the costs of care for Alzheimer's were draining the financial resources of both Medicare and Medicaid, particularly the costs to cover Alzheimer's claims, which were nearly three times higher than the average claims. The cost to Medicare is predicted to climb to 55 percent reaching $50 billion in less than 10 years. The cost to Medicaid doesn't look much better, as it is estimated to rise by 80 percent to $33 billion.

An analysis of 30,000 Medicare claims showed an increase in Alzheimer's disease especially among the African American population where there was a significant jump of 460 percent.

The Rise of Alzheimer's Cases

• Baby boomers, who are considered at high risk of developing Alzheimer's, are expected to reach 1 million a year

• The number of people with Alzheimer's is predicted to go from today's estimate of 4.5 million to nearly 16 million by the year 2050

• Current national costs for providing care to Alzheimer's patients: $100 billion

Study on Costs to Medicare for Alzheimer's Patients

• Costs were analyzed over a 15-year period after a person was diagnosed as having Alzheimer's disease

• 1,600 participants took part in the study

• Components of care that were evaluated included years of institutionalized care, hours of paid and informal care and discounted costs of paid community, institutional and medical care

Results of the Study

• Due to having a longer life expectancy rates, the average cost of care for a woman with Alzheimer's was around $16,327 per year compared to the cost for a man with Alzheimer's, which was an estimated $9,710 per year

• Cost for care in the final stages of the disease were a great deal higher than the costs for the initial stages of the disease

Because of the catastrophic costs and the number of people predicted to develop Alzheimer's, researchers expressed the need for more funding for research with hopes that it will provide them with knowledge on less expensive treatments for Alzheimer's.

As a way of reaching this goal The Alzheimer's Association came up with the following recommendations:

• A request for $1 billion in annual federal funding to be used for Alzheimer's research

• Guiding Americans to think about Alzheimer's differently and focus on prevention techniques such as lifestyle and improving brain health

• Incorporating a chronic health care benefit into the Medicare program to cover the exorbitant costs of care associated to dementia and other related conditions

• Improving the quality of care and support services available to people with Alzheimer's

EurekAlert July 19, 2004