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SALT LAKE CITY — Alzheimer's disease can deplete brain function, but it can also ravage a person's wallet, according to a new report by the national Alzheimer's Association.
Projected cost increases in the coming years, the report states, could also influence state leaders on important health reform policy decisions, specifically on Medicaid expansion.
"If a person lives through all seven stages of the disease, they will require more skilled services," said Kate Nederostek, program director for the Utah chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. "Not everyone needs that kind of help, but some end up needing 24/7 assistance, and that's not cheap."
Nederostek said the typically long disease process lasts an average of four to eight years, but people can live up to 20 years with Alzheimer's.
"With the ever-growing Alzheimer's population in our state, this issue will become unwieldy very quickly," said Ronnie Daniel, executive director of the local chapter.
Daniel said lawmakers should consider the "significant issue of large increases in Medicaid costs due to Alzheimer's disease" in Utah.
The report projects Medicaid spending increases in every state, including a 56.6 percent rise to $220 million in Utah by 2025. About 6 percent of this year's $140 million Medicaid budget in Utah is spent on people with Alzheimer's and related dementia, according to the local chapter.
As Utahns with Alzheimer's disease age and spend down their assets, also requiring more specialty care, they rely on Medicaid at a rate nearly three times greater than other senior citizens. The national association reports that 75 percent of people age 80 and above with Alzheimer's disease require nursing home care, compared with just 4 percent of the general aging population.
"Most people will require long-term care," Nederostek said. "It's easy to run through your money in that amount of time."
And while people with Alzheimer's may have family caregivers, helping to keep costs low, Nederostek said, "everyone has a breaking point."
As patients progress through the sometimes severe mental deterioration that comes with Alzheimer's disease, they lose the ability to manage simple habits — eating, drinking, using the restroom, sitting up in a chair, for example, she said. "They need help with those things."
"Once a family is affected by the disease, they find out very quickly that this is a very difficult disease to deal with," Nederostek said, adding that the sooner a caregiver develops a support network, gleans information about the disease and plans for the future, the better.
She said families can care for loved ones at home a little longer if they are informed, if they achieve early detection and tap into available resources, among other things. Families can also participate in ongoing clinical trials and research to learn more about the disease or donate to the cause.
Nederostek said more money needs to be focused on research.
Without a cure, the report states that Alzheimer's will not only continue to cost people their lives, but it will continue to have a direct result on state and federal Medicare and Medicaid budgets.
Utah is expected to see a 45 percent increase in the number of people dealing with the disease by 2025, as more and more baby boomers are headed into the greatest risk factor of Alzheimer's, which is age.
Utah will likely see the greatest increase in incidence of the disease, as people are moving to Utah to retire and a healthy lifestyle that is common among the state's largest religion is helping people live longer.
The numbers, Nederostek said, are "staggering."
Lawmakers have adopted a state plan to deal with the surge, but Daniel said he "calls on our Legislature to find ways to continue Medicaid support to our most vulnerable population, who are impacted by this dreadful disease."
Increased costs, which are expected to be greatest in the Western states, the Alzheimer's Association report states, "merits a comprehensive review of state preparedness to meet the immediate and future care needs of people affected by Alzheimer's and other dementias."
