 lzheimer’s
Disease is a progressive and fatal brain disease.
Alzheimer's destroys brain
cells, causing problems with memory, thinking and
behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies
or social life. Alzheimer’s gets worse over time, and it
is fatal. Today it is the seventh-leading cause of death
in the United States.” There are now
more than 5 million people in the United States with
Alzheimer’s Disease. Every 72 seconds, someone
develops this disease.
The number of people surviving into their 80s and 90s is
growing due to changes in demographics as well as
advances in medicine; therefore, the number of those
affected by Alzheimer’s disease will grow as a portion
of this population.
“Direct and
indirect costs of Alzheimer’s disease and other
dementias, including Medicare and Medicaid costs and the
indirect cost to business of employees who are
care givers of persons with Alzheimer’s, amount to more
than $148 billion annually.”
Much of the cost of care is absorbed by the Alzheimer’s
patient and his or her family out of their own pockets.
Caring for an
individual with Alzheimer’s disease is not only
expensive, but also challenging. Alzheimer’s
patients will experience the disease process in
different ways at various stages of the disease.
Caregiver responsibilities can range from paying bills
and balancing the checkbook to bathing and dressing.
Many care
options exist in the spectrum between living in a
private residence and going to live in a nursing home.
Yet an Alzheimer’s patient and his or her family often
dread a nursing home as the only resort, without
learning about all of the care options that exist.
At
Steinbacher, Sholder & Stahl, we have helped many
families explore options of care as well as develop an
asset protection plan so that property and life savings
are protected from the cost of such care.
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A Caregivers Insight
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