A new study that was funded by the National Institute on Aging and conducted by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Dartmouth College, and the University of California, Los Angeles, has found that end-of-life treatments for those suffering from dementia are significantly higher than those with other diseases. The study found that out-of-pocket spending for dementia patients are 81 percent higher than treatments for people that have other diseases. Patients with dementia often require many years of care and many aspects of that care are not covered by Medicare. In many instances the burden can fall on family members that have to take time off from work to care for loved ones that suffer from dementia. There are experts warning of a caregiver crises as the average population continues to age.
See Tara Bahrampour, End-of-life care vastly more expensive for dementia patients than for others, The Washington Post, October 26, 2015.
Special thanks to Lewis Saret for bringing this article to my attention.
