Dementia aid appreciated

This year, the annual cost of caring for individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias will reach $259 billion, $175 billion of which comes in direct costs to Medicare and Medicaid. Yet in 2016, for every $100 the U.S. government spent on Alzheimer’s research, $16,000 was spent by Medicare and Medicaid to care for those living with the disease.

Thankfully, Congress is taking action. Recently, a $400 million increase in Alzheimer’s research funding was approved, I am thankful that Sens. Murray and Cantwell and Rep. McMorris Rodgers voted for this historic increase.

The human toll of Alzheimer’s disease is obvious, especially to someone like me who lost my father to this disease. Today, there are more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s - the only leading cause of death without a way to prevent, cure or even slow its progression. Barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent or cure Alzheimer’s, the number of Americans with the disease is set to triple over the next 35 years.

Please join me in thanking Murray, Cantwell and McMorris Rodgers for their commitment in the fight to end the scourge of Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias.

Mark Newbold

Spokane