Growing cases of Alzheimer’s spark investment From the cover
Growing challenges
Current situation
most families have to use their life savings or sell a home or property to help pay for long-term care. “Low-income options are limited,” Bailey said. “That in-between gap … that’s a big problem.” Memory care in Houston generally costs between $5,200-$5,500 per month. The average monthly household income in Houston is $5,401.
Alzheimer’s is also a major factor in rising health care costs, according to experts. The average total lifetime cost of care for a person living with dementia is estimated at around $405,262 , accord- ing to the Alzheimer’s Association. Amanda Bailey, founder of Help for My Parents, a free assisted living search firm in Houston, said
Alzheimer’s disease is a condition that gradually damages and destroys nerve cells in the brain, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the care, support and research of the disease. The disease often causes memory loss, cognitive decline and behavioral changes. Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, a chemistry professor at Rice University researching neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, said there isn’t any real medicine to treat these diseases. While research is ongoing, the number of patients continues to increase throughout the world. “The largest risk factor is age, and we all live longer today in general,” she said. “That means we are getting more patients.” Texas ranks third in the nation in the number of Alzheimer’s cases and second in the number of deaths caused by the disease, according to the Texas Dementia Initiative. As of 2023, in Harris County, approximately 12.2%, or 64,800 people, ages 65 and older, live with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
The growing cost of health care
Cost of care by payment source, 2025 Medicare: $174B
$3.9 billion is the cost of Alzheimer’s to the Texas Medicaid program
Medicaid: $72B Out of pocket: $97B Other: $41B *
Roughly 70% of the cost for dementia care is borne by family caregivers Dementia costs families over $20.6 billion per year
$384B total
*NOTE: OTHER PAYMENT SOURCES INCLUDE PRIVATE INSURANCE, HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS, OTHER MANAGED CARE OR UNCOMPENSATED CARE.
By 2050, costs are projected to reach more than $1 trillion
SOURCES: ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES, NIHCM FOUNDATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT
What’s being done
The goals of DPRIT
Percent of residents with dementia in Harris County, 2021
Dementia is an umbrella term for disorders that impact memory, thinking and behavior, with Alzheimer’s disease being the most well-known.
Last year, over 2 million Texas voters approved state Proposition 14 to create the Dementia Prevention Institute of Texas, or DPRIT. The vote, leaders said, was driven by a desire to accelerate cures for Alzheimer’s. The $3 billion initiative will grant up to $300 million each fiscal year in competitive grants over the next decade, making it the largest state-funded research program in the nation. “With a steadfast commitment, Texas has the potential to become a world leader in combating dementia through the search for effective treat- ments and, ultimately, a cure,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a 2025 news release after state senators passed the DPRIT legislation. DPRIT will be modeled after the Cancer Preven- tion and Research Institute of Texas, or CPRIT, which was created in 2007. Since its inception, CPRIT has surpassed $4 billion in total grants, funded over 2,200 projects, recruited 344 top researchers to Texas and enabled 11.2 million prevention services, according to the institute’s website. “DPRIT is really important for us to recruit more people to Texas,” Wittung-Stafshede said. “We have stellar researchers in this field, but we don’t have enough. Recruiting people is important.”
65+
10.8%
Create and expedite dementia research
65-69
3.4%
70-74
5.9%
Drive the commercialization of dementia research
75-79
10.9%
80-84
19.5%
85+
Enhance the research superiority of Texas
35.7%
White
Over 2.9 million Texans voted on Proposition 14
10.5%
13% African American 11.2% Asian/Pacific Islander 10.2% Hispanic 10.1% American Indian/Alaskan Native 4% Unknown 7.7% Other
For
Against
2.02M
924.05K
SOURCES: ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION, TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
“With DPRIT, we can become the leader in the U.S. and in the world on dementia-types of disease.
NOTE: THE 2021 DATA FOR THE BREAKDOWN OF PERCENTAGES IS THE LATEST NUMBERS AVAILABLE.
Male (65+)
But more than that, the funding also puts a lot of hope back into the field.” PERNILLA WITTUNG- STAFSHEDE, CPRIT SCHOLAR
12.2%
Female (65+)
9.2%
SOURCE: DEMENTIA DATAHUB/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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