[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 21]
[House]
[Pages 30051-30052]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL ALZHEIMER'S MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Nussle). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I want to have a Special Order on National 
Alzheimer's Month, which is this month of November.
  In 1906, a German doctor named Dr. Alois Alzheimer noticed plaques 
and tangles in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual 
mental disease. Today, these plaques and tangles in the parts of the 
brain controlling thought and memory and language Dr. Alzheimer 
observed are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.
  Today, Mr. Speaker, Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of 
dementia in older people, affecting an estimated 4 million people in 
the United States. And while every day scientists learn more about this 
disease, after almost a century's worth of research, its cause remains 
unknown and there is no cure.
  Unless scientific research finds a way to prevent or cure the 
disease, 14 million people in the United States will have Alzheimer's 
disease by the middle of the 21st century.
  Despite this, we have learned much about Alzheimer's disease during 
this century of research. We know that Alzheimer's disease is a slow 
disease starting with mild memory problems and ending with severe 
mental damage. At first the only symptom may be mild forgetfulness, 
where a person with Alzheimer's disease may have trouble remembering 
recent events, activities, or the names of familiar people or things. 
Such difficulties may be a bother, but usually they are not serious 
enough to cause alarm.
  However, as the disease progresses, symptoms are more easily noticed 
and become serious enough to cause people with Alzheimer's disease or 
their family members to seek medical help. These people can no longer 
think clearly; and they begin to have problems speaking, understanding, 
reading or writing.
  Later on, people with Alzheimer's disease may become anxious or 
aggressive or wander away from home. Eventually, patients may need 
total care. On average, a person will live 8 years after symptoms 
appear.
  Let me pause at this moment, Mr. Speaker, because the fact that so 
many Alzheimer's patients may need total care in the future is so very 
important. Congress must take a long hard look at the way we finance 
the future health care needs of the Nation's elderly.
  With the aging of our population, we can expect an increase in the 
number of people with Alzheimer's and other age-related diseases that 
will require nursing facility care at some point. Simply put, longer 
lives increase the likelihood of long-term care.
  At least half of all nursing home residents have Alzheimer's disease 
or another dementia, and the average annual cost of Alzheimer nursing 
care is $42,000. And that is modest.
  Unfortunately, for many people paying for long-term care out of 
pocket, it would be a financially and emotionally draining situation as 
assets worked over a lifetime to build could be lost paying for a few 
months of long-term care.
  Congress must take action to encourage private initiatives, such as 
expanded use of private long-term care insurance to help families plan 
for the long-term care needs of their elderly relatives, and they need 
to in a wide variety of settings that are currently available.
  That is why I am proud to have this support of 125 of my colleagues 
for my bill, H.R. 1111, the Federal Civilian and Uniformed Services 
Long-term Care Insurance Act of 1999.
  This legislation, developed in consultation with the Alzheimer's 
Association, makes long-term care insurance available at group rates to 
active and retired Federal civilian personnel, active and retired 
military personnel, and their families. I hope that my Federal and 
military long-term care bill will serve as an example for other 
employers that would lead to increased societal use of long-term care 
insurance. Having coverage eases the pressure on Federal entitlement 
spending while protecting the hard-earned assets of American families.
  In addition to meeting the needs of Alzheimer's patients, H.R. 1111 
also seeks to ease the financial burden on spouses or other family 
members who often provide the day-to-day care for people with 
Alzheimer's disease.
  As the disease gets worse, people often need more and more care. This 
can be hard for caregivers and can affect their physical and mental 
health. It can affect their family life, their jobs, their finances.
  In fact, 70 percent of people with Alzheimer's live at home and 75 
percent of home care is provided by family and friends. What a strain.
  Under H.R. 1111, participating carriers would give enrollees the 
option of receiving their insurance benefits in cash, as opposed to 
services, to help family members who must rearrange their work 
schedules, work fewer than normal hours, or who must take unpaid leaves 
of absence to provide long-term care.
  In addition to meeting the financial needs of people with Alzheimer's 
disease today, we must continue our research into treatments and cures 
for Alzheimer's. This is something that

[[Page 30052]]

the National Institutes of Health is doing as we end this ``decade of 
the brain'' and the fact that we are working to double the budget of 
NIH by 2003, and this year we will have made that second installment.
  So, Mr. Speaker, to my colleagues, I look forward to working with all 
of them to ensure that the Federal Government continues to fulfill its 
investment in medical research well into the next century so that some 
day Alzheimer's disease will be history.

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