Now is the time we change our thinking on Alzheimer’s disease. Too often Alzheimer’s is treated as an aging issue, ignoring the public health consequences of a disease that someone in the U.S. develops every 66 seconds. And with two-thirds of its annual costs being absorbed by Medicare and Medicaid, it is one that demands more attention from our country’s government.
As one of the more than 15 million Americans who has been a caregiver for my husband who died from Alzheimer’s and one of 140,000 living with the disease in Georgia, one of the 527,000 Georgians providing care to someone living with Alzheimer’s, I understand the disease’s impact and the physical and emotional costs of the disease.
Congress must take decisive action passing the Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act (S. 2076/H.R. 4256). Endorsed by the Alzheimer’s Association, the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act would create an Alzheimer’s public health infrastructure across the country to implement effective Alzheimer’s interventions including increasing early detection and diagnosis, reducing risk and preventing avoidable hospitalizations.
Alzheimer’s is the most expensive disease in the U.S. and the 6th leading cause of death. Alzheimer’s costs the country more than $277 billion a year, which is why we need the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act. If we are going to end Alzheimer’s disease, then we must start treating it like the public health threat it is.
Please join me in urging Congressman Drew Ferguson to fight for the millions of Americans affected by Alzheimer’s and pass the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act in the House.
I thank Congressman Drew Ferguson who has sponsored BOLD in The House. Thank you to Senate who passed BOLD.
Jacqueline Miller
Peachtree City, Ga.
