Alzheimer's Disease Deemed an Economic Threat

Abstract

Without decisive political action, the economic consequences of Alzheimer's disease could dwarf the current economic crisis, according to the final report of the Alzheimer's Study Group, which Congress created in 2007 and included politicians, advocates, physicians, and researchers. The group's “National Alzheimer's Strategic Plan” calls for reengineering dementia care delivery and more research focused on delaying and preventing Alzheimer's disease. It also calls on Medicare to increasingly reimburse physicians for dementia care according to the quality of their work. By 2016, these “value-based payments” should cover half of all dementia care, said the group cochaired by former Housespeaker Newt Gingrich and former senator Bob Kerrey. The Alzheimer's Association praised the strategic plan for bringing attention to the “looming national crisis” created by the condition. “An investment in Alzheimer's is not only good social policy, it is an economic necessity,” said Harry Johns, president and CEO of the association. In a separate report, the Alzheimer's Association said that Medicare pays out three times as much for the care of beneficiaries with dementias, averaging $15,000 annually, as it does for people who are free of the brain diseases. The association estimated that 5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's, 500,000 new cases will emerge in 2010, and that the toll will rise to a million new cases annually by 2050. From 2000 to 2006, Alzheimer's disease deaths rose 47%, whereas deaths from other major diseases declined. The disease is also stressful for family members, who care for 70% of people with Alzheimer's. For example, a survey in Washington State found that half of caregivers said that stress was their greatest difficulty.