August 15, 2014

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

Forbes piece calls for focus on Alzheimer's to bring down healthcare costs, USA2 board member Meryl Comer will be featured on The Diane Rehm show on August 25, the importance of 'asking your candidates' about medical research, and Bloomberg explores the use of music therapy to treat Alzheimer's (read more). 

Must reads and watch 

  • An August 15, 2014 Forbes opinion piece by John Tamny underscored the need to focus on big picture issues like Alzheimer's instead of minor cost cuts to bring down overall healthcare expenses. According to the article, "Now, consider the potential of medicines to address one of the most daunting and expensive health care challenges to our aging population: Alzheimer’s disease.In 2012, one out of every eight people aged 65 and older in the U.S. – more than 5 million – had Alzheimer’s, and payments for health care, long-term care, and hospice services were estimated to be $200 billion (not including the work of unpaid caregivers)…As companies like Lilly work to make that a reality, it’s important to remember innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s the product of a delicate ecosystem that carefully balances risk and reward, with timely access to new medicines and reimbursement at prices that reflect the value those medicines bring to patients and the health care system. If we simply take projections of future costs as a given and settle for trimming costs off that trend line, we will lose opportunities to truly bend the cost curve, and more importantly, to achieve levels of health and well-being that are unattainable with current technology and financial resources. Far better to focus on policies that foster medical innovation and ensure that short-term budget pressures don’t choke our only real chance to tame rising health care costs."
  • An August 15, 2014 The Diane Rehm Show post announced that USA2 board member Meryl Comer will talk about her new book Slow Dancing With A Stranger on The Diane Rehm Show on August 25 at 11:06AM EST. Be sure to tune in! 
  • An August 15, 2014 Seaside Courier article highlighted Research!America's "Ask Your Candidates" campaign, an initiative "designed to empower voters to talk to candidates about the future of medical progress in the United States." According to the article, "The initiative helps voters engage candidates on social media and through local events, grassroots, advertising and other interactive projects. Launched by Research!America, the nation’s largest nonprofit public education and advocacy alliance working to make research to improve health a higher national priority, Ask Your Candidates! illuminates the crux of the issue: Federal funding for medical research is lower today than it was in 2010, and Congress has the authority to set future funding levels."
  • An August 15, 2014 Bloomberg video segment explored the use of music therapy to address Alzheimer's and dementia. Dan Cohen, executive director and founder of Music & Memory, explains how music is being used to help patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia. He speaks with Pimm Fox on "Taking Stock".