The Scourge of Alzheimer's Disease

A recent article in the Miami Herald states that: "Alzheimer's disease takes a devastating emotional toll on families but it also is one of the most expensive conditions to treat because of its progressive nature, requiring increasing assistance with eating, bathing and other basic activities over up to 20 years."

As we point out in To Tax or To Ration, the main risk for Alzheimer's disease is age. Currently, a new diagnosis is made every 70 seconds. By 2050, when the youngest of the baby boomers turn 84, there could be nearly one million new cases per year. The facts are simple and indisputable--the longer you live, the higher the chances of Alzheimer's disease.

It is this coming wave of Alzheimer's patients, if nothing else, which will ultimately swamp Medicare and Medicaid. Few individuals have personal resources sufficient to pay for 20 years of care. Fewer individuals have family members who can provide 20 years of care.

Assuming that neither personal resources nor family members can provide the necessary care, how will care be provided? By a government already up to its eyeballs in red ink? By "affinity" groups who provide care because it's the right thing to do? Or, will it require all of the above plus rationing too?

In to Tax or To Ration, we maintain that rationing is inevitable. When will our elected officials face up to this coming disaster, one which is far more predictable than global warming? Unless we start speaking up, the answer is they will not.