SERIES: Heilman stories resonate

Kudos to the CDA Press and to reporter Devin Heilman for the three-part family stories, living with Alzheimer’s. I was able to photocopy them and place in our Congressional packets as we visited the Hill in DC with 1,100-strong Alzheimer’s Forum ambassadors representing all 50 states. The hard work of everyone involved pushed a purple tidal wave up The Hill to drive back the tsunami of Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s is the most expensive disease in America with the total cost of care for those with Alzheimer’s, with more than two-thirds paid by Medicare and Medicaid. Dr. David Satcher, MD and former director of the CDC, and former U.S. Surgeon General spoke and was quoted that Alzheimer’s is over-taxing state and federal budgets. Nearly 1 in 5 Medicare dollars is spent on a person with Alzheimer’s.

New NIH research spending on finding treatments is $586 million and 2015 Medicare and Medicaid spending is $153 billion for caring for people with Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is devastating to patients and their loved ones and of the top 10 killers is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. Alzheimer’s is the only one that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.

Thank you for continuing to shed the light so that our loved ones are diagnosed properly. Please reach out to your lawmakers and tell them we need a cure as we will bankrupt the system by 2050. Go to alz.org for facts.

KATIE MANS

Coeur d’Alene