Early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease could save millions or even billions of dollars while simultaneously improving care, according to new work by La Follette School professor David Weimer and co-author Mark Sager, director of the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute of the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.
David Weimer Patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are heavy users of long-term care services, especially nursing homes, with estimated annual costs upward of tens of billions of dollars nationwide.
Much of the fiscal burden is borne by state and federal governments — and thus taxpayers — through the Medicaid and Medicare programs. Earlier diagnosis and treatment could reduce these costs, Weimer and Sager say.
The research, a cost-benefit analysis of the social and fiscal impacts of early identification and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, using Wisconsin as a model, appears in the May issue of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
The analysis considers two types of interventions following diagnosis, patient drug treatment and caregiver support programs. Each would provide positive net savings, with the greatest benefits achieved using a combination of both.
“Even just with currently available drug treatments, [early diagnosis] seems to offer positive social benefits,” Weimer says. “If we had a stronger caregiver support network, it could be even greater.”
He and Sager predict even larger benefits if more effective drug treatments are developed and if public policy supported caregiver benefits, like counseling and support groups.
Medicare does not support caregiver intervention programs. Even accounting for implementation costs, the new analysis suggests that they would result in net savings to governments by reducing the care burden on medical systems. “It does take some investment early on, and of course this is a time when all state dollars are tight,” says Weimer. “But from the long-run perspective, it looks like it’s a clear winner.”
Early Alzheimer's diagnosis reduces costs, May 25, 2009, UPI.com
Early Alzheimer's diagnosis offers large social, fiscal benefits, May 18, 2009, Science Daily
Early Alzheimer's diagnosis offers large social, fiscal benefits, May 18, 2009, University of Wisconsin–Madison News
— posted May 27, 2009