DataPoint: Alzheimer’s Cost in Long Term Care

According to a Medicare Beneficiary Survey, in 2017, average per person total health care and long term care payments from all sources for Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s ($48,028) were over three times larger than payments for elderly health and long term care for Medicare beneficiaries without Alzheimer’s ($13,705). The Medicare Beneficiary Survey also indicated that people with Alzheimer’s had twice as many hospital stays per year as other older adults. Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s were most commonly hospitalized because of fainting and falling incidents (26 percent). The rate of stay at skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) was nearly four times larger for those with Alzheimer’s. There were 283 SNF stays per 1,000 beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s compared to 73 stays per 1,000 beneficiaries without Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.

The 2018 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures Report from the Alzheimer’s Association is available here. 

Contact: Ken Allison, kallison@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8820