Last week, the U.S. House passed two bipartisan bills introduced by Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia that would cement and build on the important progress that has been made to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease.
The National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act (AAIA) now head to the President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
Nearly seven million Americans live with Alzheimer’s which costs the United States an astonishing $360 billion per year, including $231 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid. If Americans continue on the trajectory, the number of individuals age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s may grow to a projected 12.7 million and approach $1 trillion in annual costs by 2050. Family caregivers provide 18 billion hours of unpaid care for loved ones with dementia annually, valued at nearly $347 billion.
“I know from firsthand experience what a devastating illness Alzheimer’s disease is, as I watched my mother battle with it for a decade before her passing,” Warner, who is co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, said. “While we’ve made great strides in research, there is still so much work to be done to find effective ways to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s. On behalf of the millions of American families who have been touched by Alzheimer’s, I’m glad to see these two bills head to the president’s desk to be signed into law.”
The NAPA Reauthorization Act would:
·Reauthorize NAPA through 2035 and modernize the legislation to reflect strides that have been made to understand the disease, such as including a new focus on promoting healthy aging and reducing risk factors; and
·Update language in recognition of the need to include underserved populations, including individuals with Down syndrome, who are at increased risk for Alzheimer’s as they age.
The Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act would:
·Continue through 2035 a requirement that the Director of the National Institutes of Health submit an annual budget to Congress estimating the funding necessary to fully implement NAPA’s research goals. Only two other areas of biomedical research – cancer and HIV/AIDS – have been the subject of special budget development aimed at speeding discovery.
Along with Warner, both bills were co-authored by Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Ed Markey of Massachusetts.
The NAPA Reauthorization Act and Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act are endorsed by the Alzheimer’s Association and UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.
The NAPA Reauthorization Act is endorsed by the National Down Syndrome Society, the National Down Syndrome Congress, and LuMind IDSC Foundation.
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Rebecca Barnabi
