DataPoint: Alzheimer’s Disease Impact

Based on a report issued by the Alzheimer’s Association, an estimated 5.8 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s dementia, with approximately 96 percent age 65 and older. One in 10 Americans above 65 has Alzheimer’s dementia. Of the 5.8 million currently living with Alzheimer’s, 81 percent are over age 75. With the population of elderly Americans expected to grow from 55 million in 2019 to 88 million in 2050, the prevalence of Alzheimer’s is also expected to grow. In New York State, approximately 400,000 people are living with Alzheimer’s, with an estimated 15 percent increase by 2025.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 121,404 people died from Alzheimer’s in 2017. Additionally, deaths related to Alzheimer’s increased by 145 percent from 2000 to 2017, while the number of deaths from heart disease decreased by 9 percent.

Total payments in 2019 for individuals living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias are estimated at $290 billion. Medicare and Medicaid are expected to cover 67 percent of the total health care and long term care payments for individuals with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. Total per person health care and long term care payments in 2018 for Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s were over three times the cost of payments for Medicare beneficiaries in the same age group living without Alzheimer’s.

The 2019 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures Report from the Alzheimer’s Association is available here.

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