{"id":5603,"date":"2021-05-19T22:03:28","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T22:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/s37407.p1377.sites.pressdns.com\/resources\/lifetime-cost-alzheimers-care\/"},"modified":"2021-05-19T22:03:28","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T22:03:28","slug":"lifetime-cost-alzheimers-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/lifetime-cost-alzheimers-care\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the lifetime cost of caring for a person with Alzheimer\u2019s?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dementia takes an enormous emotional toll on the people with the disease and their caregivers, but it can also be a large financial burden. While the financial demands of getting older have never been cheap, Alzheimer’s has the ability to drain a lifetime’s worth of savings.<\/p>

In 2019, the average lifetime cost of care for a person with Alzheimer’s was $357,297<\/a>, according the Alzheimer’s Association, with families bearing 70% of that cost through out-of-pocket expenses and the value of unpaid care through loved ones acting as caregivers.<\/p>

“It is terrifying,” says Linda Winter in an interview with the Mercury News<\/a>. At age 64, Winter has spent more than $350,000 so far paying for care for her 65-year-old husband with Alzheimer’s disease, who no longer recognizes her. “Could I end up in old age under a bridge in a cardboard box? That is my fear.”<\/p>

Keith Fargo, Ph.D., the director of scientific programs and outreach for the Alzheimer’s Association, warns that these costs are going to continue to rise.<\/p>

“This year’s report illuminates the growing cost and impact of Alzheimer’s on the nation’s health care system, and also points to the growing financial, physical and emotional toll on families facing this disease,” says Fargo in a press release. “Soaring prevalence, rising mortality rates and lack of an effective treatment all lead to enormous costs to society. Alzheimer’s is a burden that’s only going to get worse.”<\/p>

Genworth Financial<\/a> breaks down the average costs of long-term care in 2019 by service:<\/p>