There are few afflictions that can be more difficult to either suffer from or watch a loved one combat than Alzheimer’s disease. As proteins gather into a kind of plaque that impedes basic brain function, those who suffer from the disease not only lose the ability to perform many of the everyday tasks they’ve known for all their lives, but they also begin to lose much of their memory.
Despite the disease’s serious nature and new reports that the condition is certain to spread to millions more across the nation, with Texas very much included, those currently living with Alzheimer’s are not allowed Social Security Disability benefits.
Although the recent, specific inclusion of early-onset Alzheimer’s in the program’s Compassionate Allowances provisions has brought financial security to those who battle the disease at an especially young age, for most Alzheimer’s patients the financial burden must be shouldered without government help.
Earlier this month a report in the medical journal Neurology forecasted that by the year 2050 the number of Americans living with the Alzheimer’s variety of dementia will nearly triple, rising to nearly 14 million cases. As a result, the amount spent each year on direct treatment of the disease is also expected to drastically climb-from the current sum of roughly $200 billion to a possible $1 trillion.
For those who do not qualify for the SSD’s Compassionate Allowance of early-onset Alzheimer’s, living in a home stricken by the debilitating disease can be impossibly difficult. The personal and financial burden of watching a sibling, parent, or spouse lose their ability to work, support themselves, and remember the past demands that every possible legal option for assistance should be explored to its fullest-a demand that the help of an attorney can facilitate.
Source: U.S. News, “Number of Americans with Alzheimer’s May Triple by 2050,” Amy Norton, Feb. 6, 2013
- Understanding the Social Security Administration’s Compassionate Allowances program and which specific conditions are considered fair grounds for financial assistance will only become more important in future years. For more information, contact our Texas Social Security law page.