Letter to Congress

October 2, 2008

The Honorable Carol Shea-Porter
Carol Shea-Porter
Independence and New Jersey Avenues, SE
LHOB- Longworth House Office Building - Room 1508
Washington, DC 20515-2902
United States

RE: Support Alzheimer Families

Dear Representative Shea-Porter:

As a constituent, I urge you to support $30 billion for medical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Fiscal Year 2008 omnibus appropriations bill. Funding NIH at this level would provide a $16 million increase for Alzheimer research – money that is critically needed to protect the 78 million baby boomers whose lives will soon be at risk for this deadly disease which has no cure or effective treatment. Although this funding level still falls short of what is needed to bring Alzheimer’s under control, it is the same amount that was included in the Labor/Health & Human Services/Education appropriations bill that was vetoed earlier this month.

Alzheimer’s places tremendous financial and emotional burdens on individuals affected by the disease and their family caregivers. Stopping Alzheimer’s isn’t just good social policy – it’s a sound economic investment as well. This year Alzheimer’s is costing Medicare $91 billion and Medicaid $21 billion. By 2015, the two programs will be spending $210 billion just on individuals with Alzheimer’s. The nation cannot afford to wait for a cure or better treatments. Immediate federal action is needed to ensure that scientists find treatments to delay, halt or reverse the progression of Alzheimer’s.

Congress must finish the job it was elected to do. It is time to accelerate the fight against Alzheimer’s disease – NOW. If you are interested, take a look at my blog to see the struggle my family has gone through @ http://alzheimersthief.blogspot.com/

Sincerely,

XxxmexxX