Washington, D.C., May 16, 2022 — Today, the Alzheimer's Association and the Alzheimer's Impact Movement (AIM) are proud to support the introduction of two bipartisan bills — the NAPA Reauthorization Act, introduced by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) in the Senate and Reps. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) in the House, and the Alzheimer's Accountability and Investment Act introduced by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Mark Warner (D-VA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) in the Senate and Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) in the House. The NAPA Reauthorization Act will extend the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) (P.L. 111-375), which was signed into law in 2011, to ensure that the nation continues to prioritize addressing Alzheimer's and all other dementia. The Alzheimer's Accountability and Investment Act continues to ensure Congress hears directly from scientists on what resources they need to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer's disease.
"Thanks to the original National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) and the Alzheimer's Accountability Act (AAA), we've made tremendous progress in the fight against Alzheimer's and all other dementia. The passage of these two new bipartisan bills is the next important step to continue the work of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease to promote rapid research and improve the delivery of clinical care and services for people living with Alzheimer's and their families," said Robert Egge, Alzheimer's Association chief public policy officer and AIM executive director. "The Alzheimer's Association and AIM are deeply grateful to the sponsors for introducing these important pieces of bipartisan legislation to help improve the lives of those impacted by Alzheimer's throughout the nation. We look forward to working with these bipartisan congressional champions to swiftly pass these bills."
The Alzheimer's Association and AIM worked with these champions to develop and build bipartisan support for NAPA and AAA, resulting in the first National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease, with the first goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer's disease. Thanks to NAPA, the National Plan and dedicated bipartisan congressional champions, Alzheimer's research funding has seen a more than seven-fold increase since the passage of NAPA in 2011. Since AAA was first enacted in 2014, Congress has been able to review the annual professional judgment budget compiled by scientists, and appropriate annual NIH Alzheimer's and dementia research funding reflective of the needs outlined by the expert scientists.
With NAPA set to expire in 2025, updated legislation is critically needed by people living with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. The NAPA Reauthorization Act would continue the work of the National Plan to build on the progress made in clinical and long-term care and public awareness. The NAPA Reauthorization Act will improve our nation's care and support response, emphasize the importance of healthy aging and risk reduction, and seek to help address health disparities.
As the initial AAA law is set to expire in 2025 as well, the Alzheimer's Accountability and Investment Act is essential to ensure Congress will continue to hear from scientists about the resources needed to prevent and treat Alzheimer's and other dementia. With continued investment, scientists will be able to work at a more rapid pace to advance basic disease knowledge, explore ways to reduce risk, uncover new biomarkers for early diagnosis and drug targeting, and develop potential treatments.
At a time when more than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's and more than 11 million are providing unpaid care for them, prioritizing how this devastating disease is addressed remains a critical issue for our country. Given the financial burden Alzheimer's puts on Medicare and Medicaid — $321 billion in 2022, growing to a projected $1 trillion in 2050 — a commitment to Alzheimer's research today will yield savings tomorrow. Congress must act and advance both the NAPA Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer's Accountability and Investment Act now.
