A $1 Billion Prize to Cure Alzheimer's?

Tapping competitive spirit to solve the world's biggest problems.

by Rod D. Martin
July 2, 2015

House Republicans, intent on repealing and replacing Obamacare, are going beyond the Administration's focus on costs and control: like Mike Huckabee recently, they are focusing on curing the underlying diseases.

A key part of their strategy is a page out of Peter Diamandis' book: prizes. First up: a whopping $1 Billion prize for the first team to cure Alzheimer's.

First, the cure approach. I cannot stress this enough: the cure is cheaper than the care. We haven't spent a lot on polio lately, nor have many people's lives been ruined, productivity destroyed, inventiveness wiped out, families infected. Cost containment is a paltry substitute for cures, and the more you focus on the accounting side, the more policy makers tend to lose sight of that essential fact.

Both parties have been pretty bad about this, but that's changing, fast.

From the Charlotte Observer:

(Rep. Robert) Pittenger says he also hopes the latest plan will get some juice from the addition of a $…