McCaskill on Alzheimer’s: ‘not funding research is dumb, refusing to fund care is cruel’

After report estimates future Alzheimer’s care costs to hit over $1 trillion, Senator calls for increased investments in research funding and resources

WASHINGTON – Pointing to a report issued earlier this week that costs associated with Alzheimer’s care could reach $1.1 trillion by 2050, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today said additional investments in research funding are necessary to combat the disease. McCaskill, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Special Committee on Aging, joined Chairman Susan Collins (R-Maine) to head a bipartisan hearing focusing on the financial, economic, and emotional challenges facing those with Alzheimer’s disease and the individuals and families who care for them.

McCaskill discussed the critical importance of both investments in medical research to combat Alzheimer’s, and the importance of funding and expanding Medicaid programs for long-term care: “It seems to me that not funding research is dumb, because it’s going to cost us a lot of money, and refusing to fund care is cruel.”

McCaskill continued: “Government investments in medical research have allowed our nation to be a beacon to the world for hope, for medical advancements, for being the country that is looked to – and that adds to our national security because we are seen as a leader in the world in medical research. Funding for the National Institutes of Health has suffered over the previous years…we cannot continue to shirk our responsibility in the United States to advancing medical research. There is no area that is more deserving of additional dollars for medical research than Alzheimer’s.”

The Senate panel featured Kim Stemley, a St. Louis-area caretaker and Alzheimer’s activist as well as former model and restauranteur B. Smith, who was recently diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

McCaskill also addressed the budget plan proposed by Republicans in Congress, which contains a number of provisions that would unfairly punish Missouri’s seniors at the expense of special interests, saying: “I am worried because the budget we are currently debating does massive cuts to Medicaid. Nursing home care, and other health care services for seniors and the disabled would be slashed by $5.4 billion in Missouri alone. These are middle class families that would be devastated by these cuts.”

Also on the panel were Richard J. Hodes, M.D., Director of the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health; Ronald Petersen, Ph.D., M.D., Director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and Chair of the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services; and Heidi R. Wierman, M.D., Division Director of Geriatrics, Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine.

The hearing came against the backdrop of a report issued this week by the Alzheimer’s Association. In addition to showing dramatic increases in costs for Alzheimer’s care, the report found that diagnoses of Alzheimer’s and other dementias were not being properly communicated to many patients.  

McCaskill and Collins head the Senate Special Committee on Aging, which leads discussion and debate on matters relating to older Americans.

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