Several United States Senators, including Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford, led a bipartisan group of 34 combined Senators in urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to conduct an outreach campaign on Friday.

This outreach program would be aimed at educating clinicians, Medicare beneficiaries with cognitive impairment, and their families on the assessment and care planning services currently available to them. The Senators said more than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s and, without significant action, nearly 14 million Americans will have Alzheimer’s by 2050.

Caring for those with Alzheimer’s will cost an estimated $290 billion in 2019, with Medicare and Medicaid bearing $195 billion of that figure (67-percent). As the research community continues to search for a disease modifying therapy and better symptomatic treatments, the Senators said CMS must do all it can to ensure the best quality of care and quality of life for those living with Alzheimer’s.