This year, the annual cost of caring for individuals living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias will reach $259 billion, $175 billion of which comes in direct costs to Medicare and Medicaid.
Yet in 2016, for every $100 the U.S. government spent on Alzheimer’s research, $16,000 was spent by Medicare and Medicaid to care for those living with the disease. My husband was one of these.
He was diagnosed at age 56, with Early Onset Alzheimer’s. After 38 years of service, he had to leave the Atlanta Journal and Constitution on Social Security disability and Medicare.
Thankfully, Congress is taking action. Just recently, a $400 million increase in Alzheimer’s research funding was approved. Thank you, Representative Drew Ferguson, for voting for this historic increase.
The human toll of Alzheimer’s is obvious, especially to someone like me who lost my husband to this disease. Today, there are more than 5 million Americans living with this disease, the only leading cause of death without a way to prevent, cure or even slow its progression.
Barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent or cure Alzheimer’s, the number of Americans with the disease is set to triple over the next 35 years, and the cost of care will increase to $1.1 trillion in 2050.
Please join me in thanking Representative Drew Ferguson for his commitment in the fight to end Alzheimer’s.
Visit the Alzheimer’s Association at ALZ.org or call 800-272-3900.
Jacqueline Miller
Peachtree City, Ga.
