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Committee hears bipartisan bills to create statewide dementia care coordinator
Summary
Lawmakers and advocates told the House Committee on Health and Mental Health that a single, full-time dementia coordinator could improve navigation of services for people with dementia and their caregivers. Witnesses cited state cost figures, caregiver counts and a fiscal note of about $189,007 for the first year.
The House Committee on Health and Mental Health held a public hearing on legislation to establish a statewide dementia care coordinator, with sponsors presenting two related House bills together.
Representatives Travis Wilson (District 106) and Kerry Engel (House District 35) told the committee the coordinator would centralize information, chair a task force and work across agencies to streamline dementia services and outreach.
The bills’ backers said Missouri faces a growing need. "An estimated 122,000 Missourians age 65 and older are currently living with dementia," Representative Kerry Engel said. She added that about "223,000 Missourians" provide care to people with Alzheimer's or related dementias and that state Medicaid spending related to that population is large and rising. Engel said the cost for caring for people with Alzheimer's in 2020 was "$973,000,000 Medicaid dollars" and that related costs are expected to grow by 17% between 2020 and 2025.
The Alzheimer’s Association’s Greater Missouri chapter urged the committee to approve a dedicated state position. Catherine Roehl, director of state affairs for the Greater Missouri Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, said the coordinator would be the first full-time state employee focused on dementia care and policy and would be placed in the Division of Senior and Disability Services within the Department of Health and Senior Services. "The dementia service coordinator position would create a coordinated statewide response to Alzheimer’s," Roehl said, and would differentiate that role from grant-funded positions such as the CDC BOLD grant coordinator.
Representative Travis Wilson described the impetus for the bills as personal and practical: he said the coordinator would be a single point of contact to help caregivers locate respite, Medicaid or other services and to push for earlier detection and diagnosis so patients may access treatments that rely on early intervention.
Committee members pressed sponsors on logistics and cost. Representative Bosley asked whether the bills’ awareness- and education-related duties were included in the fiscal note; Engel answered that the fiscal note for fiscal year 2026 is $189,007 and that equipment expenses were estimated at $22,156 (with similar equipment amounts noted for a later year). Engel said budget adjustments could be addressed when the Department of Health and Senior Services implements the position.
Lawmakers and witnesses noted the bills draw on examples from other states that have established similar coordinator roles and emphasized the coordinator would work with existing bodies such as area agencies on aging, the Missouri Council on Aging and voluntary organizations.
No committee vote was recorded during the hearing. Testimony was largely supportive; members asked for more detail about outreach, staffing and how the coordinator would be publicized so people newly diagnosed could find the service.
The committee proceeded to other bills after the hearing concluded; no final action on the dementia bills was recorded in the transcript.
