Today, 76,000 Coloradans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and that number is expected to rise by 21% in the next few years. My family endured the loss of my dad, grandma and an aunt to this agonizing, debilitating and unrelenting disease, and I can tell you from personal experience that we must do more to support families impacted by it. Congress is considering ways to help, and they should take immediate action on these important policy changes. 

First, the Comprehensive Care for Alzheimer’s Act would streamline the fractured and ever-changing healthcare maze that Alzheimer’s families must navigate to get care for their loved one. Coordinating the delivery of Alzheimer’s care can reduce costs while providing improved quality of care – a win-win for families and our healthcare system.

Congress is also considering reauthorizing two laws that have helped our nation make progress in research, care and awareness about Alzheimer’s disease – the National Alzheimer’s Plan Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability Act. These important laws have helped researchers and care providers understand the disease and the needs of the families struggling with it. Extending them will enable this progress to continue at a time when even more people could benefit from it.

As someone who still lives with the sting of watching a loved one suffer from Alzheimer’s, I join the Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado in asking Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Congressman Ed Perlmutter and U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper to show their support for Colorado Alzheimer’s families by cosponsoring these important bills today. Thank you U.S. Senator Michael Bennet for taking these actions already.

Sheri Foote, Arvada