Alzheimer’s advisory group proposed

The Health and Human Services Committee heard testimony Feb. 5 on a bill that would create a group to examine Alzheimer’s needs in Nebraska.

LB405, introduced by Hyannis Sen. Al Davis, would create the Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Advisory Working Group within the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

The working group would examine resources and services available to patients with Alzheimer’s, dementia and related disorders and identify strategies to eliminate service gaps.

The 13-member group would include the CEO of DHHS, two members appointed by the Legislature, the state’s public guardian and eight members appointed by the governor to represent:
• area agencies on aging;
• law enforcement;
• health care providers;
• advocacy and caregiver organizations; and
• Alzheimer’s or related disorder patients.

The group would create a state plan with policy recommendations for providing coordinated services and support and present the plan to the committee by Dec. 15, 2016. The group would terminate on Dec. 31, 2016.

Viv Ewing, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association of Nebraska, testified in support of the bill. Alzheimer’s is no longer just an aging issue, she said, noting that more people are being diagnosed in their 40s and 50s.

“Every 67 seconds someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease,” Ewing said. “Alzheimer’s is a growing public health crisis. It is the only cause of death in the top 10 that cannot be prevented, cured or slowed.”

Stephen Bonasera, a geriatrician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, also testified in support of the bill. Nebraska needs to coordinate policy, research and services for Alzheimer’s and related disorders, Bonasera said, adding that the state faces challenges in creating a plan due to its unevenly distributed population.

“We need a plan that works both in the center of Omaha and in the most remote and rural areas of the state,” he said. “As far as I can see, everyone has a stake in this [issue].”

No one testified in opposition to the bill and the committee took no immediate action on it.