Will Alzheimer’s Bankrupt Medicare & Medicaid?

Alzheimer’s is the most expensive medical condition in America, and it is threatening to bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid, and the life savings of millions of Americans. As the life expectancy for Americans increases, our health span, particularly our brain span, is failing to keep up. Americans eighty-five and older have a 40%–50% chance of having Alzheimer’s. In 2016, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, total health care, long-term care, and hospice care was estimated at $236 billion for those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. 

Currently, $1 of every $5 in Medicare and Medicaid funding goes toward the care of Alzheimer’s patients. With the expected increase in disease diagnosis over the next decade, the number will increase to $1 for every $3, which could cause funding to collapse and prevent funding of other age-related diseases. As a result of this grim possibility, medical professionals are urgently seeking new treatments for Alzheimer’s. They also point to four areas that people can concentrate on to prevent the uprising of the disease—eat right, exercise, sleep, and stress reduction.  

See Lindsay Carlton, Could Alzheimer’s Really Bankrupt Medicare and Medicaid?, Fox News, March 1, 2017.