U.S. dementia care spending by state: 2010-2019.

INTRODUCTION: Dementia is the fourth largest cause of death for individuals 70 years of age and older in the United States, and it is tremendously costly. Existing estimates of the indirect costs of dementia are dated and do not report on differences across the United States. METHODS: We used data from multiple surveys to create cost estimates and projections for informal dementia caregiving at the U.S. state level from 2010 through 2050. RESULTS: In 2019, the annual replacement cost of informal caregiving was $42,422 per prevalent case, and the forgone wage cost was $10,677 per prevalent case. In 2019, it would have cost $230 billion to hire home health aides to provide all this care. If past trends persist, this cost is expected to grow to $404 billion per year in 2050. DISCUSSION: The cost of informal care varied substantially by state and is expected to grow through at least 2050. HIGHLIGHTS: In the United States in 2019, foregone wages due to informal dementia care was $58 billion. Replacing informal dementia care with health aides would have cost $230 billion. These costs vary dramatically by state, even when assessed per prevalent case. These costs are expected to nearly double by 2050.

Societal Costs of Dementia: 204 Countries, 2000-2019.

Background: Dementia prevalence is expected to increase as populations grow and age. Therefore, additional resources will be needed to meet the global demand for care for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Objective: Estimate global and country-level health care spending attributable to ADRD and the cost of informal care for people living with ADRD. Methods: We gathered data from three systematic literature reviews and the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study. We used spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression to impute estimates for the many countries without underlying data. We projected future costs to 2050 based on past trends in costs, diagnosis rates, and institutionalization rate. Results: We estimated that in 2019, the direct health care spending attributable to ADRD across 204 countries reached $260.6 billion (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 131.6-420.4) and the cost of informal ADRD care was $354.1 billion (95% UI 190.0-544.1). On average, informal care represents 57% (95% UI 38-75%) of the total cost of care. We estimated that direct health care spending attributable to ADRD will reach $1.6 trillion (95% UI 0.6-3.3) in 2050, or 9.4% (95% UI 3.9-19.6%) of projected health spending worldwide. We estimated the cost of informal care will reach $0.9 trillion (95% UI 0.3-1.7) in 2050. Conclusions: These cost estimates underscore the magnitude of resources needed to ensure sufficient resources for people living with ADRD and highlight the role that informal care plays in provision of their care. Incorporating informal care cost estimates is critical to capture the social cost of ADRD.