About 5.5 million Americans live with dementia, requiring US$53 billion in annual medical spending on doctor visits, hospitalizations, medications, home health aides and nursing homes. But the true cost of dementia care in the U.S. is far higher because it relies heavily on unpaid care from family and friends.
I am a researcher who studies health spending, and my colleagues and I set out to quantify the true costs of dementia care – not just to the health system, but to families and communities. After factoring in the value of unpaid care, we found that the total cost of dementia care increases fivefold to $277 billion per year.
Our first-of-its-kind estimate of dementia care costs by state also revealed dramatic cost disparities by geography. In the District of Columbia, the average annual cost for a person living with dementia – including both medical spending and the cost of unpaid care – is $37,000, while in West Virginia it is $61,000.
