On Sept. 3, 2024, researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago and George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health reported that millions of Americans in Medicare had diagnostic evidence of dementia. The study was first comprehensive count of all Medicare beneficiaries of all ages with documented diagnosis of some form of dementia.

The study estimated that in 2019, 5.4 million Medicare beneficiaries had diagnoses indicating likely or highly likely dementia, and an additional 2.6 million people had diagnoses indicating possible dementia. The study was published in JAMA Network Open.