The High Cost of Caring for a Loved One: One Woman’s Struggle with Alzheimer’s and Medicaid

Kathy Mullen left her Fortune 500 job to care for her mother with Alzheimer’s, leading to financial strain and health issues, according to her interview with Business Insider. The 64-year-old from North Texas described the toll of six years as a full-time caregiver, including the loss of her career, financial instability, and a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. She now lives in a 55-and-older apartment complex, earning $25,000 annually through Social Security Disability, and struggles to afford basic needs.

Mullen, who worked for Nike for nearly a decade, said she quit her job in 2010 to care for her mother, who was diagnosed with early-onset dementia in 2007. “I gave up a wonderful career in a Fortune 500 company, good pay, great benefits, living a dream life, to move back to Texas to be my mom’s full-time caregiver for the last six years of her life,” she said. “It destroyed me financially and physically.”

Financial Strain and Health Decline

Mullen sold all her belongings to move to Texas and care for her mother, who could not afford long-term care. She initially sought a facility but abandoned the plan after her mother screamed upon arrival. “She begged me not to put her in,” Mullen recalled. She later relied on a combination of her Nike retirement funds, her mother’s Social Security, and support from the Alzheimer’s Association, which provided eight hours of weekly respite care. However, medical expenses and caregiving demands quickly depleted her resources.

“You go through that really fast with doctors’ visits and other things that come up,” Mullen said. She also took her mother on a trip to California to see a friend, but the costs continued to mount. “My parents had never heard of saving for long-term care,” she added. “I looked into getting a policy, but I couldn’t afford it every month.”

The physical and emotional burden took a toll. Mullen described her mother’s worsening condition, including nighttime wandering and memory loss. “She would get up and wander around at night. I had locks on the doors, but I was worried she would fall, hit something, or step on glass,” she said. After her mother’s death in 2016, Mullen faced additional challenges, including a split of her mother’s house with her brother and a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. “Doctors don’t think I developed it because of helping my mom, but they thought the stress of taking care of her and dealing with a younger brother with a drug addiction made it worse,” she said.

Current Struggles and Hope for Medicaid

Mullen, now living in a 55-and-older apartment, earns just enough to qualify for a discount but struggles to cover monthly expenses. “I go without medical insurance for six years because I couldn’t afford it. Now, I struggle every month to pay my bills and eat,” she said. She also criticized government support for seniors, stating, “I feel like our government doesn’t care about seniors, and they make it easier to die than to live.”

With no spouse or children to support her, Mullen relies on Social Security Disability and volunteer work, including organizing bookings for an Irish tenor. “I handle US bookings for a world-renowned Irish tenor to give them more purpose, and I don’t get paid for it,” she said. Despite her hardships, she remains hopeful. “There’s a possibility I can get on Medicaid or downsize my home to a cheaper one-bedroom,” she added.

Mullen’s story highlights the growing crisis of unpaid caregiving in the U.S., where over 53 million adults provide care for a family member or friend, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving. The financial and health impacts are profound: caregivers often lose income, face reduced retirement savings, and experience higher rates of chronic illness