A Call for Action Against Costly Aging

By Tracey Breese
The price of care for Alzheimer’s patients will surpass the cost of the current stimulus bill in the next 50 years, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and other advocated to a senate hearing Wednesday.

The Alzheimer’s Study Group, a Congress appointed organization to research and plan ways to combat Alzheimer’s, called for action from the Senate Special Aging Committee to increase funding for the costly disease.

“The healthcare costs for people with Alzheimer’s disease is three times as much as for people with other diseases because of the complexities of dealing with dementia,” said Gingrich.

The Alzheimer’s Study Group calculates that we will spend nearly $20 trillion, equal to 25 stimulus bills, on care for Alzheimer’s by the middle of the century.

Nearly half of people over 80 will suffer from Alzheimer’s in the next fifty years according to Sen. Martinez (D-Fl). Currently an estimated 5.3 million have the disease, more than double the number since 1980 said Martinez. With the baby boom generation moving into the high risk age category, the number afflicted is likely to continue to rise, according to the Senate Committee.

“Unfortunately while the cases of Alzheimer’s have continued to climb, funding over the past five years has remained flat,” said Sen. Collins (R-Maine).

The cost of Alzheimer’s is up to $150 billion primarily in nursing and long-term care instead of research, according to the Alzheimer’s Study Group. Gingrich said that if scientists discover a way to delay the on-set of the disease by just five years, the country would save $8 billion in healthcare. Former Sen. Bob Kerrey, co-chair of the study group, said scientists are narrowing in on developing ways of preventing the disease.

The panel included retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor whose husband suffers from the disease, and First Lady of California, Maria Shriver, whose father, Sargent Shriver, was an advisor to two presidents and does not recognize her today because of Alzheimer’s.

“My Dad was legendary for the way he worked this building,” said Shriver in emotional testimony. “He knew every congress member’s name, politics and soft-spot…Today he doesn’t even know my name.”

Kristen Moore, a doctor, from Pinkerton, Ohio attended the meeting in hopes that congress members will increase National Institute of Health’s research for Alzheimer’s and eliminate the two year Medicaid waiting period, which leaves people with disabilities without Medicaid for about two years.

“My mother passed away at age 55 from Alzheimer’s. It is important for people to know that this is not just a disease of people in their eighties,” said Moore.

Moore came with about 25 other Alzheimer’s Association members from Ohio and a total of over three hundred members, from around the country. They wore purple Alzheimer’s Association sashes.

Kerrey also recommended improving the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement policies, which keeps patients from using counseling and community services. The committee also supports a $3,000 tax credit for families taking care of members with Alzheimer’s.

The $10 billion that is allocated to Alzheimer’s in the stimulus plan will only be enough to start a base for funding the research and care of the disease said Sen. Specter (R-PA). Long term care systems needs to get equal treatment in health care reform said Collins.

“The cost of care is very expensive because the person afflicted can’t take of his or herself, and it often takes two people to provide round the clock care,” said O’Connor.

The Aging Committee and the Alzheimer’s Study Group are also advocating for better and cost-effective technology in health care. Medical researchers have developed a talking alarm that would remind patients to take medication, and a scale connected to the internet, so doctors can monitor immobile patients without home visits. Also Martinez advocated for National Silver Alert Act which would enable families and law enforcement to quickly search for elderly people with dementia when they have wandered away from home. Florida has already put the Silver Alert Act into effect and it has saved nine elderly people, according to Martinez.

“Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease that takes enormous personal and economic toll on both the individual, family and our country,” said Collins who has several family members with the disease.

On May 10 HBO will present “The Alzheimer’s Project,” a comprehensive documentary that Shriver contributed to.“We have to put Alzheimer's on the front burner, because if we don't, Alzheimer's will not only devour our memories, it will cripple our families, devastate our health care system and decimate the legacy of our generation” said Shriver.