Hillary Clinton has announced an aggressive approach to Alzheimer’s that includes a $2 billion annual commitment to research. That’s the level championed by the dementia movement, which includes the LEAD Coalition to which OWL belongs. Her plan also includes the goal of finding a cure by 2025, and ways to aid caregivers.

Two-thirds of the people over age 65 who have Alzheimer’s are women, as are a majority of
dementia caregivers. A report by Maria Shriver and the Alzheimer’s Association puts the annual economic impact of the disease at $300 billion in the United States alone. The cost of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is $56,800 a year, the bulk of it borne by individual families. With the baby boomers entering their mid-60s, the number of people with the disease is expected to triple to 16 million by 2050.

Clinton is the first presidential candidate to release a proposal on Alzheimer’s disease. As a U.S. Senator, she co-chaired a congressional task force on Alzheimer’s.

There are hundreds of thousands of women and men who embody the holiday spirit year-round.

Day after day, in ways big and small, they strive to improve people’s lives, regardless of whether or not they are acknowledged for their efforts.

OWL’s holiday message this year is one of gratitude for everyone working to change lives for the better.

Your contributions are behind the many welcome heart-warming stories that together point toward a better and more hopeful future.

We are grateful for you.

“The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others’ burdens, easing others’ loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of the holidays.” - W. C. Jones

Social Security recipients—who are receiving no cost-of-living increase (COLA) next year—would receive a one-time payment of $580 in 2016 under legislation proposed today by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). The amount is 3.9% of the average benefit, reflecting the average raise CEOs at the 350 largest companies received last year.

“It may sound like a small amount to some people, but to a woman who depends on Social Security for basic living expenses, this infusion would mean a lot,” said OWL Executive Director Bobbie Brinegar. “The average annual Social Security benefit for women 65 and older is about $13,500 per year. When you consider what these women have contributed over the years, this ‘bonus’ has definitely been earned.”

It’s also money that will go right back into the economy, Brinegar said. “We know that these are checks that are spent quickly; so it will not only benefit individuals, it will help their communities.”

The one-time payment is not without precedence; a $250 payment was issued to Social Security recipients as part of the 2009 Recovery Act. Later research found that the lump-sum payment was one of the quickest-acting components in that Act.

The cost of the Seniors and Veterans Emergency (SAVE) Benefits Act would be funded by eliminating a tax loophole. Under that loophole, corporations can deduct from their taxable income any amount paid to CEOs and their executives, as long as the pay is “performance-based.” This would save taxpayers $50 billion over 10 years, according to the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation.