A dementia diagnosis can upend retirement plans and ripple through families. It also comes with higher costs—an estimated 22% higher medical costs than someone without dementia in the five years after diagnosis, based on a study of Medicare data co-written by Norma Coe, an associate professor for medical ethics and health policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
While a dementia diagnosis didn’t change the survival time for women in the study, they incurred roughly $7,850 higher incremental costs than men with dementia. The main reason: A dementia diagnosis reduced survival for men, which meant their greater use of services was offset by not living as long. Earlier detection could possibly reduce costs. About 40% of the study’s sample were diagnosed in an inpatient setting, contributing to the higher costs. By the fifth year, there was little difference in costs incurred for those with and without dementia.