A new study has revealed that Dementia patients shoulder a much higher burden when it comes to end of life care cost compared to other diseases such as cancer and heart disease. With an average cost of $287,000 for the last five years of life, sufferers pay about %38 more than those with cancer and heart disease with out of pocket cost representing up to an addition %81 in cost. This cost disparity comes with a further burden as the care required is not covered by Medicare, as opposed to most other afflictions. This lack of coverage will often wipe out retirement saving and financially harm relatives who often have to provide free care to supplement whatever professional services are affordable. With a projected 13 million Americans expected to suffer from dementia by 2050, this problem will become a major concern for all estate planners especially those with clients that have family histories of the condition.
See Tara Bahrampour, End-of-life care vastly more expensive for dementia patients than for others, Washington Post, October 26, 2015.
Special thanks to Lewis Saret for bringing this article to my attention.
