An average person with dementia will need more than a quarter-million dollars’ worth of health care treatment in the last five years of life, greatly exceeding the costs associated with other diseases, according to a recent study.
The National Institute on Aging-funded study, published in the Oct. 27 edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine, estimated that someone with probable dementia would incur total health care costs of $287,000 in the last five years of life. Medicare beneficiaries treated for other health issues had an average cost of $183,000.
“It provides an important picture of the risks that families face, particularly those with dementia and those who may be least able to bear major financial risk,” NIA Director Dr. Richard Hodes said in a statement. “Such insights are critically important as we examine how best to support the aging of the U.S. population.”
When it comes to actual, out-of-pocket spending, the average dementia patient will need to spend more than $61,000 in his last five years of life. Other patients will spend slightly more than $34,000 on average, according to the study.
A larger discrepancy appears when looking at these costs compared to household wealth. On average, a dementia patient’s care is comparable to 32 percent of his net worth, but for African Americans, that number is closer to 84 percent.
The study also noted that financial burden was worse among the unmarried and undereducated than for their peers.