Issue Position: Alzheimer's Disease

Issue Position

Alzheimer's Disease is one of the greatest health care challenges we face as a nation. We have a moral obligation to care for the Baby Boomers who will be disproportionately afflicted with the disease, and we have an economic responsibility to address the tremendous burden it puts on our country. Yet to date, our spending on research and treatment has been paltry at best. Alzheimer's is also an issue that is deeply personal to me. My grandmother developed Alzherimer's at only 63, and I had to grow up watching her slowly deteriorate.

Failure to fund substantial research into a long-term solution for Alzheimer's will result in significantly increased Medicaid and Medicare costs, which will be passed on to American taxpayers.

The federal government has been too slow to implement laws already on the books, including the National Alzheimer's Project Act (P.L. 111-375). Its implementation needs to continue in earnest, and partisanship is no excuse. In Congress, I will reach across the aisle to establish long-term solutions for sufficient funding for both Alzheimer's research and treatment. I support the HOPE Act (S. 709/H.R. 1507) and similar legislation as a bipartisan answer to this national problem. Investments In research today will save time, money, and lives in the future.

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