West Virginia Statistics on Alzheimers
- Currently there are four and a half million Americans with Alzheimer's disease, and more than 42,000 West Virginians. That is roughly the entire population of Fayette County, or the entire population of Jefferson County, or the combined populations of Calhoun, Gilmer, Pocahontas, Tucker and Tyler counties.
- West Virginia has the highest average age and highest percentage of Medicare recipients in the nation.
- While the state's total population is expected to remain constant indefinitely, its elderly population is projected to grow by 60% during the next 25 years due to low in-migration and the tendency for older residents to remain in the state. (The number one risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is age. One in ten persons over age 65 and nearly half of those over 85 have Alzheimer's, and, increasingly, it is found in people in their forties and fifties.) In the year 2011, 400,000 West Virginia baby boomers turn age 65.
- The West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services states that by the year 2024, 105,500 West Virginias will have Alzheimer's disease.
- It is the third most expensive disease in the United States, after heart disease and cancer. The average lifetime cost per patient is close to $200,000.
- More than seven out of ten people with Alzheimer's disease live at home. Almost 75% of the home care is provided by family and friends. The remainder is paid care, costing an average of $12,500 per year. Families pay almost all of that out-of-pocket.
- Half of all nursing home residents suffer from Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. The average cost for a resident's care in a nursing home is $42,000 per year.
- The percentage of total Medicaid expenditures going to long term care in West Virginia is a very low 23.1%, and the state is considered to be below average in nursing home expenditures.
- Neither Medicare nor private health insurance covers the long term type of care most people with Alzheimer's disease need.
Return to main page of the November is National Alzheimer's Awareness Month article.
Updated: October 20, 2005
