A new study found that dementia care entails much more cost than other life-threatening diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
While common diseases, specifically dementia, are known to pose major social costs in the U.S., not much is known about the costs of particular health conditions during its terminal stage, as well as the related financial hazards for each household.
In a new study, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles and Dartmouth College aimed to study the social costs and financial risks of patients with Medicare five years before their deaths.
The study involved Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, aged 70 years old and above. The study subjects died between 2005 and 2010 and were categorized into four clusters, including patients with high possibility of dementia, patients who died of cardiovascular disease, patients who died of cancer and patients who died of other causes.
To collate cost data, the researchers looked at the results of the Health and Retirement Survey, which obtains information about incomes, health and care needs. The said database is performed every two years with an 86 percent average response rate and is said to include information about the participants' cognition and the probability that they may develop dementia.
The survey is connected to the Medicare information system, which enables the identification of total medical expenses, and to the National Death Index. After a participant's death, the family is again surveyed about their expenses such as those spent on nursing homes, home care services and other health care costs.
The findings of the study showed that the average medical expense for dementia patients is $287,038 and was notably higher than those whose death was caused by cardiovascular disease, cancer and other conditions, which entailed an average cost of $175,136, $173,383 and $197,286 respectively.
While the Medicare costs were fairly similar in all the groups, the out-of-pocket-expense for dementia patients ($61,522), is significantly greater than those without dementia ($34,068), with an 81 percent discrepancy.
"Many costs related to daily care for patients with dementia are not covered by health insurance, and these care needs, including everything from supervision to bathing and feeding, may span several years," said Dr. Amy Kelley lead author of the study from Icahn School of Medicine.
The study, however, had limitations. First, there was a lack of information about family wages lost during care, the possible underestimation of insurance payments and the fact that the authors only tested the probability of dementia and not the actual presence of the condition.
In the end, the researchers concluded that health care expenditures among dementia patients were significantly greater than for patients with other diseases. Most of the needed services for dementia were not covered by Medicare, thus, putting families at an increased risk of financial burden.
The study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Oct 27.
Photo: Ted Van Pelt | Flickr
