Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, are continuing their bipartisan work to improve care for Alzheimer’s patients. 

Following their subcommittee hearing titled “Alzheimer’s Awareness: Barriers to Diagnosis, Treatment, and Care Coordination,” Chairman Toomey and Ranking Member Stabenow are seeking input from stakeholders – providers, researchers, patients, patient advocacy groups, states, and others – to inform the development of future legislation. 

In a notice to stakeholders, Senators Toomey and Stabenow stated:

“In 2019, Alzheimer’s disease and related memory disorders cost an estimated $290 billion in health care, long-term care, and hospice expenses, two-thirds of which will be borne by Medicare and Medicaid. As the number of Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease grows to nearly 14 million by 2050, annual health care expenditures attributable to the disease will balloon to $1.1 trillion.”

…

“We look forward to reviewing stakeholder feedback and working on bipartisan solutions that make meaningful improvements to the detection, education, treatment, and support for patients and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.”

The full notice is available online with footnotes here.