Dementia patients, their caregivers to benefit from bill passed in Olympia

It’s going to get easier to get Alzheimer’s care thanks to a bill passed Monday in the Washington State Legislature.

State Senator Karen Keiser sponsored the measure that directs Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services to put together a group focusing on services to meet the needs of people with dementia.

She said it’s about coordinating the care that’s already there.

“I’m thinking that the governor will sign it shortly and we can proceed with really putting a plan together that will deal with, what has become, the most expensive disease in the country,” Keiser said.

The group will also try to find ways to protect dementia patients from predatory guardians who take advantage of the elderly.

KIRO Radio’s Jillian Raftery contributed to this report.