Dementia Now Costs More Than Heart Disease and Cancer Combined

Dementia has surpassed cardiovascular disease and cancer as America's costliest illness, driven by labor-intensive caregiving rather than acute treatment. Unlike heart disease's high-cost acute episodes, dementia demands extended custodial care—skilled nursing, memory facilities, unpaid family support—compounding over years. The gap widens as baby boom retirement accelerates prevalence. Insurers, pension funds, and healthcare REITs face mounting longevity liabilities with no pharmaceutical solution in sight.