The high cost of dementia care

I have been acutely aware of the cost of caring for my Mom who has multi-infarct dementia. The average monthly cost just for her Assisted Living community is $7,500. When she was exhibiting episodes of unbecoming behavior, we were required to hire additional assistance which cost $5,000 a month. That translates to $90,000 just for the community. Some months totaled $12,500. We are in the metro-DC area.

Thankfully, my parents planned well and my Mom has money to cover these expenses — for now. However, I don’t think they expected that the funds would have to be used to pay these kinds of fees. They bought into a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) believing they were buying into discounted care fees.

When we were told a few months ago that we might need to find a new home for my Mom by her community, we started to look around. We realize there are a wide variety of community options as well as range of fees. Given what I’ve found, I am not clear on what the very large down-payment did for their finances. I do know that the community support saved up from having to pursue guardianship of my parents when they didn’t recognize the impact of their changing cognitive abilities.

There is no perfect answer, but we can validate the reality of the high cost of dementia care. We are fortunate my parents planned — I can only imagine how much more difficult it would be if my Mom didn’t have the financial resources to find the right care. Wondered. 

Related articles:

The High Costs of Caring for Someone with Dementia by CBS News