Why Clinton’s wildly ambitious billion plan to cure Alzheimer’s by 2025 … – Washington Post

Hillary Clinton on Tuesday outlined an ambitious $ 20 billion plan to cure one of the most devastating diseases of our generation within 10 years — describing Alzheimer’s not only as a condition that has taken a personal toll on too many American families but as a critical fiscal matter for the country that needs to be addressed.

The Democratic presidential front-runner, who was campaigning in Iowa, said her plan would provide $ 2 billion in guaranteed annual funds by closing tax loopholes to “prevent, effectively treat and make a cure possible.” That level is four times the current funding.

Although she did not offer specifics on where the money would come from, two advisers provided more details on why Clinton is making the disease a priority.

In a conference call with reporters, Robert Egge, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, and Rudolph E. Tanzi, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of genetics and aging research at Massachusetts General Hospital, described Alzheimer’s as the only one of the 10 leading killers of Americans for which there is way to cure, prevent or even slow the progression of the disease.

More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s today, and the number is expected to triple to 15 million by 2050. If the government’s spending on the disease grows at the same rate, it would jump from $ 586 million in 2014 to $ 1 trillion in 2050.

“This is a tsunami, an epidemic that could single-handedly crush Medicare, Medicaid… It’s an unmet medical need of the greatest type,” Tanzi said.

Tanzi explained that there have been a number of important breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s research in recent years — including the discovery of two dozen Alzheimer’s genes, the role of inflammation in the disease — but that progress in building on that work has been frustratingly slow because of a lack of resources.

“Our single bottleneck has been funding,” he said. “We are a budget-constrained, not knowledge-constrained, field.”

Tanzi said it is “reasonable and rational that if we can throw enough money at this disease over the next 10 years we do have a chance of dramatically reducing its incidence, of actually being able to stave off this disease in people who are at the highest risk.”

The funding plan is part of a larger effort by Clinton to address the country’s growing Alzheimer’s crisis. She has said previously that she would seek to have Medicare cover comprehensive care-planning for the disease and announced a tax credit proposal for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s.

Clinton is scheduled to speak further about her plan during an appearance at 5:30 p.m.

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