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Sen. Murphy Backs Initiative for Alzheimer's Caregivers

Lori Mack
/
WNPR
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy during rountable at the Mary Wade Home in New Haven.

As Americans continue to live longer, their chance of developing diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's increases. And family members are often assuming the unpaid role of caregiver, resulting in reduced wages and Social Security benefits. 

In response, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy is backing an initiative to provide retirement credit for family caregivers. 

Advocates, family members, and doctors packed a conference room on Tuesday at the 150-year-old Mary Wade Home, an assisted-living facility in New Haven. They shared their knowledge and experience on the effects of Alzheimer's, a disease Murphy called a national crisis.

"Five-and-a-half million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease and over the course of the next several decades that number is expected to triple," he said. 

Murphy talked about increased costs, squeezed budgets, and the lack of support for family members who give up their jobs to care for loved ones with Alzheimer’s. He’s proposed legislation, the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act, which he hopes will provide an incentive.

"What this bill does is it says if you’re a caregiver and you’re providing regular care for a loved one and you have had to leave work because of it, or you’re not working full-time because of it, you shouldn’t lose credit for Social Security purposes because you have decided to care for a relative," Murphy explained.

Bob Savage, 85, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a year and a half ago. He stressed the importance of research, but not in pharmaceuticals.

"What I found is that to be able to create and to be alive during that one period of time, I think, helps to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s," he said. "What we need is research that could work with us to help to show that that is real."

Earlier this year, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved additional funding for research for fiscal year 2017. If adopted into the final budget it would boost U.S. government funding for Alzheimer’s research by nearly $1.4 billion -- a 40 percent increase over last year, according to Murphy.

Lori Connecticut Public's Morning Edition host.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.