Recognizing Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, as we close out the month of June, Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, it is critical to note that the effort to enhance treatment and find a cure for Alzheimer's must be prioritized year round. Yet, there is no better time to reflect upon the progress that has been made in this effort, the long road ahead and opportunities just around the corner.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, 5.4 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's or related dementia and as the baby boom population ages, that number is expected to skyrocket. This devastating disease impacts patients and families alike. Over 15 million family members and friends provide over 18 billion hours of unpaid care to their loved ones annually, at tremendous emotional and often financial sacrifice.

Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that affects an individual's cognitive abilities. While Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death for Americans, it is the only disease among the ten leading causes of death in America that cannot be prevented cured or even slowed.

Alzheimer's is also the most expensive disease in America and incurs catastrophic costs to Medicare and Medicaid--approximately $236 billion in 2016. On average, Medicare spends three times more on seniors with Alzheimer's than without.

To ensure that optimum care is provided to every Alzheimer's patient, we need to find innovative ways to improve quality of care. To this end, I have introduced legislation--the Health Outcomes, Planning, and Education (HOPE) for Alzheimer's Act--which will amend the Social Security Act to add an additional one-time benefit for care planning services for Medicare beneficiaries newly diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. This one time comprehensive care planning session will arm patients and caregivers with the facts, prognosis, and most efficacious treatment plan.

It is our moral imperative to support individuals with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. We have an obligation to care for our citizens as they age and we must support them as they struggle to face the challenges of this disease.

HOPE fulfills this obligation by ensuring quality of life for Alzheimer's patients. These patients are often hospitalized because co- morbidities, such as diabetes, become uncontrolled when patients are no longer able to manage their own care. In other instances, medicines prescribed to control the symptoms of Alzheimer's can be rendered ineffective when patients, unequipped with sufficient information, use them in conjunction with other prescriptions. Care planning can ensure this does not happen, ensuring that symptoms are controlled to the extent possible, so patients can have the best quality of life.

Not only would HOPE improve health outcomes for Alzheimer's patients, it would also mitigate the huge, unnecessary costs associated with preventable trips to hospitals and emergency rooms. This is especially important, as Alzheimer's is the most expensive disease in America and presents a unique cost to Medicare and Medicaid.

A cost estimate commissioned by the Alzheimer's Association and conducted by Healthsperien, a DC based health care consulting firm, indicated that as a result of this legislation, net federal health spending would decrease by $692 million over the 10-year period.

The cost estimate is based on a study tracking 1,756 patients newly diagnosed with dementia, depression or mild cognitive impairment, broken into two cohorts, one cohort receiving comprehensive care planning and chronic care management through a collaborative care model and the other cohort not.

The study showed a significant savings for those patients enrolled in the collaborative care model as opposed to their peers and based on the study, the HOPE benefit is estimated to have a per person savings of $600 and per person cost $200 for a 3:1 return on investment.

Passage of my legislation, which has 291 bipartisan cosponsors, will empower individuals with much-needed information to outline their future treatments and care--giving patients HOPE, and a plan for their future.

In closing Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support my bill and hope that the momentum brought to this issue during Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month carries forward.

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