CHT Project Director Robert Egge to Testify on Alzheimer’s Before Senate Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging

WASHINGTON, March 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Center for Health Transformation Project Director Robert Egge will testify today, March 20, 2007, before a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Labor, Education and Pensions, Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging.

The hearing, “The State of Alzheimer’s Research: 100 Years Later,” will be held at 10 a.m. EDT in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building.

Mr. Egge leads the Alzheimer’s Disease Project at the Center for Health Transformation (CHT). His testimony will focus on the urgent need to create sound policy to respond to the nation’s Alzheimer’s crisis.

The Alzheimer’s epidemic continues to grow, already affecting five million Americans and their loved ones. In his prepared remarks, Mr. Egge asserts that meeting that challenge requires a bold strategy that emphasizes the role of research and innovation. America has two fundamental objectives: 1) to find therapies that will derail this disease, and 2) to support those individuals (and their families) coping with Alzheimer’s devastating impact.

However, as Mr. Egge notes in his testimony, investment in research remains stunningly weak relative to what the federal government already pays to support those with the disease: “[f]or every dollar the government spends through Medicare and Medicaid to help Americans cope with Alzheimer’s impact, it invests less than a penny to find a cure through the work of the NIH and the FDA.”

Mr. Egge’s full written testimony is posted online at Center for Health Transformation’s website, accessible via the following link: http://www.healthtransformation.net/content/Files/ Egge%20Testimony%20-%20AD%20Hearing.pdf.

   Hearing testimony will also be offered by the following experts:   — Harry Johns, President and CEO, Alzheimer’s Association, Chicago,      Illinois   — Marilyn Albert, Ph.D., Director of the Division of Cognitive      Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School      of Medicine, Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease      Research Center, Board Member, Alzheimer’s Association, Baltimore, MD   — Sam Gandy, M.D., PH.D., Director, Farber Institute for Neurosciences,      Thomas Jefferson University, Chair, Medical and Scientific Advisory      Council, Alzheimer’s Association, Philadelphia, PA   — Marilyn Blum, Owings Mills, MD  

Please see the Senate HELP Committee website for more information on the hearing: http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2007_03_20/2007_03_20.html.

About the Center for Health Transformation

The Center for Health Transformation, founded by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, is a unique collaboration of public and private sector leaders dedicated to accelerating the adoption of transformational solutions, policies, and technologies in order to create a 21st Century Intelligent Health System characterized by better outcomes and more choices at lower cost. In the coming year, CHT will further develop an Alzheimer’s Cure Roadmap Project to help build a clear, comprehensive strategy for confronting the Alzheimer’s epidemic.

For more information, visit the Center’s website: http://www.healthtransformation.net/.

Center for Health Transformation

CONTACT: Megan Meehan of Center for Health Transformation,+1-202-375-2063

Web site: http://www.healthtransformation.net/http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2007_03_20/2007_03_20.html