WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, announced that a pair of bills that would build on the important progress that has been made to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease advanced the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee by a 20-1 vote.

More than six million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s costs our nation an astonishing $345 billion per year, including $222 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid. If we continue along this trajectory, Alzheimer’s is projected to claim the minds of 13.8 million seniors by 2060 and nearly surpass $1 trillion in annual costs by 2050. In 2022, family caregivers provided 18 billion hours of unpaid care for loved ones with dementia.

“I lost my mother to Alzheimer’s after a courageous decade-long fight, so I understand the toll this terrible disease takes on seniors and families,” said Sen. Warner. “Today’s resounding bipartisan vote is a great step towards reauthorizing some of the most powerful tools we have to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. I look forward to getting it across the finish line.”

The NAPA Reauthorization Act—authored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and co-led by Sens. Warner, Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)—would reauthorize the National Alzheimer’s Project 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 National Alzheimer’s Project brings the whole of government together to make recommendations to improve policies and care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers and families.

The Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act—also authored by Sens. Collins, Warner, Capito, Markey, Moran, Menendez, Murkowski, and Stabenow—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.

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, as reported out of Committee, also includes updated 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 reported bill is endorsed by the National Down Syndrome Society, the National Down Syndrome Congress, and LuMind IDSC Foundation.

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