Dementia price tag can exceed $50,000 a year

Dementia is one of the country's most expensive medical conditions, costing the U.S. between $157 billion and $215 billion a year in medical care and other costs, such as lost wages for caregivers, according to a new study (Wang, 4/3).

The average cost of care for a patient with dementia can exceed $50,000 a year, according to new research. A study published April 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine that tracked elderly adults found dementia can represent a significant financial burden not only on individual families but society at large. Researchers determined the annual costs associated with a patient with dementia were between $41,689 and $56,290. That added up to between $159 billion and $215 billion in American health care dollars, $11 billion of which is paid for by Medicare, the study found (Jaslow, 4/3).
 

This is part of Kaiser Health News' Daily Report - a summary of health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations.

 

The study, published in the April 3 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, found this medical condition costs the nation as much as $215 billion a year.

The Wall Street Journal: Dementia's Cost To Nation Piles Up