Paul Tonko: “Well, thank you, Representative Garamendi, for leading us in a very important discussion during this Special Order.…”

“Well, thank you, Representative Garamendi, for leading us in a very important discussion during this Special Order. There is no denying that all of us, Members of the House and beyond, if you are to ask individuals out there across this country if Alzheimer's or dementia issues have impacted their family, the immediate response is absolutely. I think all of us have been touched by those devastating impacts, those outcomes that befell our loved ones, and the ripple effect onto that circle of family and friends. It is devastating. You in a sense lose that individual, and it is a very painful process certainly for those individuals living with Alzheimer's and dementia, and for their immediate families and loved ones and caregivers who watch as they painfully travel the journey with those individuals. So I think for us to take that human element, that impact and that dynamic, and put it into working order, we would be well served to acknowledge that Alzheimer's is the most expensive disease in America. It is driving bankruptcy if it goes unaddressed. And when one in every five Medicare dollars is spent on a person with Alzheimer's or dementia, the warning signals should be out there for sounder budgeting, to put our focus on a cure, on research, on developing those opportunities that will bend the cost curve, so to speak, that will enable us to address with dignity and common sense and economic sustainability the issues of Alzheimer's and dementia.…”