Alzheimer's Disease Project Mission: America is battling an epidemic that is devastating families across the country, and draining state and federal healthcare budgets.

Rob Egge Project Director

Today, one in 10 Americans over the age of 65 – 4.5 million people – suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease. Projections show that as our population ages, the number of Alzheimer’s cases could triple in little more than a generation, with more than 13 million Americans suffering from the disease by 2050.

Alzheimer’s will overwhelm efforts to control Medicare spending; already about one-third of the program’s funding, or about $91 billion, is spent annually on the disease. Without a breakthrough, by 2050 it is estimated this figure will reach more than $1 trillion per year.

But Alzheimer’s disease is about much more than numbers. It’s about people, and the loss of their independence, their memory, and their identity. It’s about American families watching their loved ones suffer, while a cure seems out of reach.

The mission of the CHT Alzheimer’s disease project is assist industry, scientists, government, and caregivers in working together to find new solutions to treat and care for patients, support families and caregivers, and to work for nothing less than a cure that will end this epidemic.

To advance this mission, CHT is coordinating and facilitating the work of the Alzheimer’s Study Group (ASG), co-chaired by Newt Gingrich and Bob Kerrey. The ASG was launched in July 2007 with strong bipartisan congressional support as well as the support of the Alzheimer’s Association and other key stakeholders.

CHT is also working on Alzheimer’s policy in collaboration with its members, including a high-level Summit entitled Alzheimer’s Disease: A Megacommunity Approach to Prevention, Detection, Treatment, and Care on September 17, 2007 co-hosted with Booz Allen Hamilton in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association.

 Project Goals:

• Encourage a robust national research agenda to discover and develop breakthrough approaches to treating Alzheimer’s – our ultimate goal is nothing short of a cure.
• Expedite the evaluation of and, as appropriate, early access to new therapies as they come under review by the FDA – make sure that breakthroughs reach those who need them as quickly as possible.
• Accelerate the creation and use of new detection and diagnostic tools to allow better tracking and assessment of Alzheimer’s growing impact on the nation and to enable more frequent opportunities for early intervention therapies.
• Develop guidelines that will ensure appropriate Medicare coverage for new therapies.
• Support the exploration of new models for the support of those with Alzheimer’s disease, under a range of care settings – from the home, to residential long-term care, hospital and hospice settings.

If you would like to find out more about participating in the Alzheimer’s Project working group, please contact Robert Egge at (202) 375-2001 or info@healthtransformation.net.

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