Alzheimer's Costs Could Explode by Mid-Century

The number of Americans aged 65 and older with Alzheimer's disease will more than double in the next 40 years, and the cumulative costs of caring for them between now and 2050 will exceed $20 trillion, a new report from the Alzheimer's Association finds.

"We know that Alzheimer's disease is not just 'a little memory loss'—it is a national crisis that grows worse by the day," Harry Johns, president and CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, said in a news release.

"Alzheimer's not only poses a significant threat to millions of families, but also drives tremendous costs for government programs like Medicare and Medicaid," he said.

The report predicts that the increase in Alzheimer's patients—from 5.1 million today to 13.5 million in 2050—will raise total Alzheimer's costs by all payers from $172 billion in 2010 to more than $1 trillion in 2050.

Annual Medicare costs will soar more than 600%, from $88 billion today to $627 billion in 2050. Medicaid costs will rise from $34 billion to $178 billion by 2050, the report says.

One reason why costs will balloon by mid-century is that almost one half of all Alzheimer's patients will be in the severe stage of the disease by then, requiring intensive and expensive care, the report notes.

Source: Alzheimer's Association