Kathy Foster: We must take a BOLD stand against Alzheimer’s

Every 60 seconds someone in this country develops Alzheimer’s Disease, our nation’s most expensive disease. Alzheimer’s is the most expensive disease because Medicare and Medicaid pay for two-thirds of all dementia-care costs. It’s time we treat this disease not only as an aging issue but as a public health issue.

I lost my mother to this disease about five years ago, and I am doing all I can to raise awareness and funds for much-needed research.

The Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act (HR 4256) will help us make inroads in the fight against Alzheimer’s public health crisis. It would create an Alzheimer’s public health infrastructure, which would fund large-scale provider and consumer education on dementia detection, diagnosis and risk reduction. I am grateful that Rep. Jim Costa is joining the effort as a co-sponsor of this legislation.

Congressman Costa is doing his part by supporting the BOLD infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act, but we still need help from the community. I hope that readers will encourage friends and family to contact their Senators and members of Congress and tell them we must fight for the millions of Americans affected by this disease.

This story was originally published February 22, 2018 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Kathy Foster: We must take a BOLD stand against Alzheimer’s."