opinion
Alzheimer’s Disease: It’s Time
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E
very 69 seconds, someone
in
America
develops
Alzheimer’s
disease.
Currently there are an estimated
5.4 million Americans with
Alzheimer’s, which could grow to
16 million by 2050. In Oregon,
about 76,000 people have
Alzheimer’s, as well as over
162,000 unpaid family caregivers.
For these caregivers, increased
stress leads to more health prob-
lems, time providing care leads to
less time for work, family or their
own interests, and many are finan-
cially devastated. As the boomers
turn 65 and we continue to see the
rate of Alzheimer’s increasing, we
will be facing a crisis.
We need to take action now to
avert this crisis. We need to set a
goal for where we want to be and
then determine how best to get
there. If we don’t do this, we will
see insurance rates skyrocket,
Medicare and Medicaid drained,
and millions more families suffer-
ing needlessly.
There is some good news. Plans
are being created to address the
Alzheimer’s crisis at both the
national and Oregon levels.
Congress unanimously passed the
National Alzheimer’s Project Act
last year, which requires the cre-
ation of a national plan for
Alzheimer’s. This effort is up and
running, and people can provide
input and follow the progress by
p ublic h ealth
Jon Bartholomew
going to napa.alz.org.
Here in Oregon, the Alzheimer’s
Association is partnering with
state legislators, non-profit organi-
care and services to people living
with Alzheimer’s and their fami-
lies. In short, this plan is to make
Oregon “dementia ready”.
November
is
National
Alzheimer’s Awareness Month,
but I’d ask you to be more than
aware – be active and engaged.
There will be a town hall meeting
November is National Alzheimer’s
Awareness Month, but I’d ask you to
be more than aware – be active and
engaged
zations, government agencies, sci-
entific and academic researchers,
memory care providers, individual
via telephone on November 10th
to gather public input on what
should be in the Oregon plan for
We know we can solve major puzzles
when we devote resources to them...
Now is the time for us to turn our
attention to Alzheimer’s
caregivers, and others to craft a
“State Plan for Alzheimer’s
Disease in Oregon”. This plan will
help ensure effective and efficient
Alzheimer’s. If you RSVP on the
Alzheimer’s Association website
(www.alz.org/oregon) or by call-
ing 503-416-0202, you can be
connected to this town hall call to
provide your input on what you
think needs to be done to fight
Alzheimer’s and ensure quality
care and services for people
impacted by it.
In these tough times, we know
that government budgets and fam-
ily budgets are stretched thin. We
believe that together we can meet
the needs of people impacted by
Alzheimer’s while saving money.
More funding for research now
can save billions of dollars in costs
in the future. Effective training
programs for caregivers can lead
to fewer doctor visits for them.
Better coordination of services
will save taxpayers money. These
are all things that can and should
be part of the national and state
plans for Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s is the next big pub-
lic health issue to tackle. As a soci-
ety, we need to come together, dis-
cuss the issues openly, and make
sure we’re prepared to deal with it.
We know we can solve major puz-
zles when we devote resources to
them, like sending a man to the
moon or finding effective treat-
ments for AIDS. Now is the time
for us to turn our attention to
Alzheimer’s.
Jon Bartholomew is Public
Policy Director of the alzheimer’s
association oregon Chapter
Who’s Watching the Supercommittee?
W
hen President Obama
signed the Budget
Control Act of 2011, he
committed our nation to a budget-
cutting process that may well be
cumbersome. The “Super commit -
tee”, or the Joint Select Committee
on Budget Reduction, has a hard
timeline of Nov. 23 to propose
some $1.5 trillion in cuts. If
Congress does not pass the
Supercommittee proposals, then
an automatic trigger will cut the
budget across the board by about
nine percent.
I suppose the thinking behind
creating the Supercommittee,
composed of six Democrats and
six Republicans, is that 12 minds
are better than 535. The size of
the committee may also make it
easier for lobbyists: According to
Politico, more than 200 lobbyists
are pressuring Supercommittee
members to protect their interests.
Who will protect the interests of
young people, especially those
who attend HBCUs? Already, stu-
dents have been hard hit by budg-
et machinations. Beginning July
1, 2012, students will no longer
receive an interest subsidy on their
undergraduate and graduate stu-
dent loans. Before now, while
studying, student loans were inter-
est-free, with interest kicking in
only when they began repayment.
No more. That will save about
$18 billion in the next decade, but
at what cost? It is ironic that on
one hand, President Obama wants
our nation to again lead the world
in the percentage of people who
are college graduates, and at the
same time, yet another hurdle is
being imposed on those who want
to go to college.
page 4 The Portland Skanner october 26, 2011
b ennett
c ollege
Julianne
Malveaux
For now, it appears that the Pell
Grant of $5,500 for low-income
students remains intact. However,
the Supercommittee is looking for
places to cut, and they are looking
everywhere. Absent lobbyists, we
will all have to lobby to protect the
Democrats
on
the
Supercommit tee. However, will
they be able to withstand both the
Republican zeal to reduce the size
of government or the automatic
triggers that will take place if the
Super committee can’t find com-
promise?
It is also likely that Title III
funding, which is specifically tar-
geted to HBCUs, will be on the
chopping block.
Earlier this
month several UNCF presidents
met with members of the
Congressional Black Caucus to
talk about ways that Title III
money can be protected. Those
It is ironic that on one hand, President
Obama wants our nation to again
lead the world in the percentage of
people who are college graduates,
and at the same time, yet another
hurdle is being imposed on those who
want to go to college
students who do not have the
resources of the health care indus-
try, legal associations, and those
other 200 crowding Capital Hill.
To be sure, many of the
Supercommittee members are
committed
to
education.
Congressman James Clyburn (D-
SC), for example, is the only
Congressional Black Caucus
member on the Supercommittee.
He has long been a friend of
Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs). He is like-
ly to find allies among other
who care about HBCUs must
lobby not only CBC members and
Congressional Representatives in
areas where HBCUs are located,
but also any and every voter, espe-
cially
those
on
the
Supercommittee. The Committee
is co-chaired by Senator Patty
Murray (D-WA) and Congressman
Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), and
includes Senators Max Baucus (D-
MT), John Kerry (D-MA), John
Kyle (R-AZ), Rob Portman (R-
OH), and Pat Toomey (R-PA).
Congressional
representatives
include Xavier Becerra (D-CA),
Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and Chris
Van Hollen (D-MD), Fred Upton
(R-MI) and David Camp (R-MI).
When you scour the headlines,
you won’t find much written about
the Supercommittee, even though
they are in the throes of meetings
and negotiations. We can expect
Democrats to protect entitlements
and Republicans to resist tax
increases, and these are sure ingre-
dients for an impasse. When the
Supercommittee was formed crit-
ics from both the left and the right
talked about the possibility of it
deadlocking, as in order to attain a
simple majority, somebody will
have to cross party lines. The last
time we faced a budget impasse,
we ended up with a reduction in
our Standard and Poor’s rating
from AAA to AA+. When it cut
our nation’s rating, S&P said their
prognosis for the long-term fiscal
health of the United States was
“poor”.
The Supercommittee may well
be out of the news, but it should
not be off our radar screen. The
dozen members are making deci-
sions that will have long-term con-
sequences. They may well decide
to tackle aspects of our tax struc-
ture, and they will certainly decide
to cut some, if not all, federal pro-
grams. We must all ensure that the
Supercommittee will not reduce
the deficit on the backs of the poor
and the powerless, especially our
students.
Julianne Malveaux is President
of Bennett College for women in
greensboro, nC.