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Reps. Markey, Smith Send Bipartisan Recommendations for Nat'l Alzheimer's Plan

Press Release

By: Ed Markey
By: Ed Markey
Date: Nov. 30, 2011
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Unemployed and Low-Income Entitlements and the Safety Net Health Insurance Health and Health Care

Representatives Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-Chairs of the CongressionalTaskforce on Alzheimer's Disease and House authors of the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA), sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urging the swift and efficient implementation of the Act.

In the letter, the Congressmen made a series of recommendations for the National Alzheimer's Plan including: increasing medical research funding and coordination, incentivizing private sector research and development, expanding public awareness efforts, providing reimbursement for comprehensive Alzheimer's diagnoses, expanding outcome-oriented care programs and dementia training for healthcare professionals, and encouraging states to adopt their own Alzheimer's plans.

"The National Alzheimer's Plan must be transformative and far-reaching. Caring for the aging baby-boomers will be one of the greatest tests of our society. Today, over 5 millions Americans and their families are struggling with Alzheimer's disease… in less than one generation those struggles will nearly triple, as millions more Americans face the prospect of an Alzheimer's diagnosis. We must change our current trajectory," write Reps. Markey and Smith in the letter to HHS.

Today, the federal government spends over $130 billion on Alzheimer's disease through Medicare and Medicaid. By 2050 we are projected to over $800 billion dollars every year on Alzheimer's disease, more than the entire Medicare budget today.


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