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In fiscal year 2008, our advocates used their voices to bring greater attention to the Alzheimer crisis. The Alzheimer’s Association mounted a national campaign to increase the federal investment in research by $125 million to develop treatments that will delay or reverse the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, and bring us closer to our goal of $1 billion annual for Alzheimer’s disease research. Because we believe that advocacy is both an individual and collective effort, we mobilized thousands of advocates through our 20th Annual Public Policy Forum. Some 600 advocates visited Capitol Hill to meet their members of Congress and deliver more than 6,000 messages from supporters not able to make the trip to Washington. Go to the Public Policy Forum Web site >>
In conjunction with the Public Policy Forum, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing to examine the burden Alzheimer’s places on individuals and society at large. Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich testified on the need to speed research and increase help for families. Watch a webcast of the hearing.
Alzheimer advocates did an outstanding job in getting cosponsors for the Ending the Medicare Disability Waiting Period Act (S. 2102, H.R. 154), a legislative priority for the Association. During the May 2008 Alzheimer’s Association Public Policy Forum in Washington D.C. Alzheimer advocates were trained on this issue and, since then, the number of cosponsors added to this bill has dramatically increased. The House bill now has 103 cosponsors and the Senate bill has 23 cosponsors. Although the bill did not pass this year, the legislation will be reintroduced again in 2009. It is our goal to continue to recruit co-sponsors and to move the bill forward based on this groundwork. Getting cosponsors and moving the bill forward should be much easier in the future because of all the great groundwork laid by the Alzheimer advocates. When passed, this bill will phase out the two-year waiting period for Medicare coverage for persons under age 65 diagnosed with early onset of Alzheimer’s disease who lose a job and employer based health insurance. Under current law, people with disabilities must wait 24 months after being qualified for and receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) before they have access to Medicare coverage. Along with the Alzheimer’s Disease Congressional Task Force, we called for the creation of the Alzheimer’s Study Group (ASG), a nonpartisan panel chaired by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Senator Bob Kerrey. Charged with creating a national strategic plan to address Alzheimer’s in our society, the ASG will assess the adequacy of the country's current efforts in the battle against the disease and recommend strategies to accelerate progress toward defeating it. The Association’s advocacy efforts also set the stage for continuing four programs that provide vital services to Alzheimer families, including
With our assistance, legislation to develop comprehensive State Government Alzheimer’s Disease Strategic Plans was passed in seven states. The effort brought together individuals with Alzheimer’s, care providers and caregivers, state agencies and elected officials Through our advocacy, model legislation requiring dementia training in nursing homes and assisted living facilities was adopted by the Council of State Governments (CSG), an influential national organization of state officials. |
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