Source: United States Senator for Kansas – Jerry Moran
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (Kan.) – a member of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s disease – joined a bipartisan group of senators in introducing a pair of bills to cement and build on the progress made to prevent and help treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease costs the U.S. $321 billion per year, including $206 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid. Alzheimer’s is projected to affect 12.7 million seniors and nearly surpass $1 trillion in annual costs by 2050. In 2021, family caregivers provided 16 billion hours of unpaid care for loved ones with dementia. Nearly half of baby boomers reaching age 85 will either be afflicted with Alzheimer’s or caring for someone who has it.
“Our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and the development of new treatments has made significant progress since the National Alzheimer’s Project Act was first signed into law in 2011,” said Sen. Moran. “In my role on both the HELP and Appropriations Committee, I remain committed to providing necessary resources so we not only maintain NAPA’s progress but expand it to help end this horrible disease.”
In 2011 after being signed into law, the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) convened a panel of experts, who created a coordinated strategic national plan to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. The law is set to expire soon and must be reauthorized to ensure that research investments remain coordinated and their impact is maximized.
The NAPA Reauthorization Act—authored by Sens. Moran, Susan Collins (Maine), Mark Warner (Va.), Shelley Moore Capito (W.V.), Ed Markey (Mass.) and Bob Menendez (N.J.)—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.
The Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act—authored by Sens. Moran, Collins, Markey, Capito, Warner and Menendez—would continue through 2035 and set a requirement that the Director of the National Institutes of Health submit an annual budget to Congress estimating the funding necessary for NIH 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.
“Thanks to the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA), we’ve made tremendous progress in the fight against Alzheimer’s. The passage of the NAPA Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act is the next important step to continue the work of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease and ensure that the nation continues to prioritize addressing Alzheimer’s and all other dementia,” said Robert Egge, Alzheimer’s Association chief public policy officer and AIM executive director. “On behalf of the Alzheimer’s Association, I would like to extend my deepest thanks to the sponsors for introducing this important bipartisan legislation to help improve the lives of those impacted by Alzheimer’s throughout the country. The Alzheimer’s Association looks forward to working with our tireless advocates and these congressional champions to advance this bipartisan legislation.”
# # #