Early Alzheimer’s Screening Could Cut $400,000 Lifetime Costs as Cases Double by 2060
Updated
Updated · Washington Times · May 6
Early Alzheimer’s Screening Could Cut $400,000 Lifetime Costs as Cases Double by 2060
2 articles · Updated · Washington Times · May 6
$400,000 in lifetime medical and caregiving costs per Alzheimer’s patient makes earlier diagnosis critical, Charles Sauer argues, because financial damage often begins years before patients are formally identified.
Five years before diagnosis, people developing Alzheimer’s already show measurable financial decline; one year before diagnosis they are 17% more likely to miss mortgage payments and 34% more likely to miss credit-card bills.
About 70% of those care costs fall on families, and Sauer says routine primary-care screening could let households set guardrails such as account monitoring, spending limits and financial power of attorney.
Blood-based biomarker tests now detect Alzheimer’s with about 90% accuracy, but Sauer says primary-care doctors need reimbursement for cognitive assessments and counseling to make early screening routine.
U.S. dementia spending is projected to reach $1.6 trillion by 2050, with Alzheimer’s incidence on track to double by 2060, raising pressure on both family finances and the federal budget.
Do the high risks of new Alzheimer's drugs justify a push for mass early screening?
How do we make early Alzheimer's screening as routine as a cholesterol check?
If your bank could predict your Alzheimer's risk, who should be allowed to know?