A new report released by the Alzheimer's Association shows that Alzheimer's disease cost the Medicare and Medicaid systems $50 billion in 2000, and that amount will likely increase by 54% by the year 2010. The annual cost of Alzheimer's disease may exceed $130 billion in 2010, including the expense to beneficiaries directly.

This increase in cost comes even before an expected epidemic of Alzheimer's. Between 2010 and 2050, the number of people with Alzheimer's will increase by an estimated 5.5 million, to about 14 million, as the baby boomers enter the age of highest risk.

Stephen McConnell, vice president of the Alzheimer's Association, is calling on Congress and President Bush to "make conquering Alzheimer's disease an immediate top federal health priority" by increasing Alzheimer's research funding at the National Institutes of Health to $1 billion. "By delaying the onset of Alzheimer's for even five years, we can keep half of the baby boomers who are now at risk from ever suffering the devastating effects of the disease. The savings to Medicare and Medicaid will be dramatic. Even a one-month delay in nursing home placement is estimated to save $1 billion a year."