David Hyde Pierce, national board member, Alzheimer’s Association

Presented to Senators Mikulski and Bond during a press conference to reintroduce Ronald Reagan Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act

March 3, 2005

I am delighted and honored to be here today to support Senators Mikulski and Bond in re-introducing the Ronald Reagan Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act to increase federal funding for Alzheimer research and care services. I’d also like to acknowledge their colleagues in the House, Representatives Edward Markey, Christopher Smith and Michael Burgess who are the leaders on the Reagan bill in the House.

Senator Mikulski knows firsthand what it is like to watch a loved one suffer from Alzheimer’s. I too, like millions of Americans, have had family members – my father and grandfather -- devastated by Alzheimer’s disease. That’s why I joined the Alzheimer’s Association, and why I’m here today.

The Ronald Reagan Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act is our best hope to prevent the devastation of Alzheimer’s for millions of families, and to save our healthcare system. Research has progressed so fast and so far in the last twenty years, thanks largely to federal funding, that today we can look forward to breakthroughs in prevention in the next decade – if the flow of funding is there. Just in the last year we learned that there are lifestyle factors we can manage ourselves that can keep our brains healthy as we age, and reduce our risk of dementia. But that’s only the beginning. We need to keep the momentum going.

Alzheimer’s disease is the biggest health threat facing Baby Boomers, and the biggest cost to Medicare and Medicaid. If we can prevent Alzheimer’s and find better treatments so those affected can live independently longer, we can achieve very significant cost savings for our health care system.

You know, if you have a leaky pipe, you can call the super and he’ll eventually get around to fixing it, and that’s okay. But if your house is on fire, you need to get the fire hose working NOW. Well, Alzheimer’s disease is the fire threatening to burn down our healthcare system and millions of American lives with it, and we need the Reagan Breakthrough Act to be that fire hose. NOW. There is no time to delay.

To maintain and accelerate the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, scientists tell us we need at least $1 billion in federal research funding annually. If that level of funding brought about even modest delays in onset and progression of Alzheimer’ within five years, by the year 2015 – just ten years from now – we could realize a return on investment of as much as $13 for each federal dollar spent on research.

Modest delays in onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease could also achieve $51 billion in annual Medicare savings and $10 billion in Medicaid savings on nursing home care by 2015. And we could reduce the number of people with Alzheimer’s by one million.

Any effort to enact change needs a strong leader. On Broadway, where I currently spend my days (and nights and weekends), an actor relies on his director to make all the parts of the show work together. In Washington, we of the Alzheimer’s Association are especially fortunate to have “directors” like Senator Mikulski and Senator Bond leading the charge.