In-Depth: Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced this bill to create a public health infrastructure to combat Alzheimer’s disease and preserve brain health:
“Alzheimer’s disease is one of the greatest and under-recognized public health threats of our time. Five and a half million Americans are living with the disease, and that number is soaring as our overall population grows older and lives longer. After decades of expanding biomedical research in Alzheimer’s, we are ready for the next step: to translate research into practice.”
The Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) support this bill. In a joint letter to Sens. Collins, Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Tim Kaine (D-VA), these organizations wrote in support of a public health approach to Alzheimer’s prevention and care:
“The Alzheimer’s Association and AIM are pleased to support the bipartisan Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act, which would create an Alzheimer’s public health infrastructure across the country to implement effective Alzheimer's interventions focused on public health issues such as increasing early detection and diagnosis, reducing risk and preventing avoidable hospitalizations. More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s and, without significant action, as many as 16 million Americans will have Alzheimer’s by 2050. Today, another person develops the disease every 66 seconds; by 2050, someone in the United States will develop the disease every 33 seconds. This explosive growth will cause Alzheimer’s costs to increase from an estimated $259 billion in 2017 to $1.1 trillion in 2050 (in 2017 dollars). These mounting costs threaten to bankrupt families, businesses and our health care system. Unfortunately, our work is only growing more urgent. As scientists continue to search for a way to prevent, cure, or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s through medical research, public health plays an important role in promoting cognitive function and reducing the risk of cognitive decline. Investing in a nationwide Alzheimer’s public health response will help create population-level change, achieve a higher quality of life for those living with the disease and their caregivers, and reduce associated costs. The BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act would provide this crucial investment by establishing Alzheimer’s centers of excellence across the country and funding state, local and tribal public health departments to increase early detection and diagnosis, reduce risk, prevent avoidable hospitalizations, reduce health disparities, support the needs of caregivers and support care planning for people living with the disease. These important public health actions allow individuals with Alzheimer’s to live in their homes longer and delay costly institutionalized care.”
In a joint letter to Sens. Collins, Moore Capito, Cortez Masto, and Kaine, the Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, and the National Association of Counties underscore the importance of a public health approach to Alzheimer’s response, as well as data’s importance to identifying appropriate public health goals and interventions for Alzheimer’s disease:
“Investing in a nationwide Alzheimer’s public health response will help create population-level change, achieve a higher quality of life for those living with the disease and their caregivers, and reduce associated costs. The BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act would provide this crucial investment by establishing Alzheimer’s centers of excellence across the country and funding state, local and tribal public health departments to increase early detection and diagnosis, reduce risk, prevent avoidable hospitalizations, reduce health disparities, support the needs of caregivers and support care planning for people living with the disease. These important public health actions allow individuals with Alzheimer’s to live in their homes longer and delay costly institutionalized care.”
This bill passed the Senate with an amendment by voice vote, and has been received in the House. It has 57 Senate cosponsors, including 36 Democrats, 19 Republicans, and two Independents. It also has the support of the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM), Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, the National Association of Counties, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
Of Note: In 2011, Senator Collins introduced the National Alzheimer’s Project Act with then-Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN). That law convened a panel of experts, who determined that $2 billion per year in research funding is needed to achieve the goal of preventing and treating Alzheimer’s by the year 2025.
Today, over five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s. Without further action, that number is expected to triple to as many as 16 million by 2050. The U.S. spends over $259 billion per year on Alzheimer’s care costs — including $175 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid.
There are private sector efforts to cure Alzheimer’s: in 2017, Bill Gates pledged $50 million of his own money to the Dementia Discovery Fund, a venture capital fund for both industry and government efforts investigating dementia, as well as an additional $50 million toward as-yet-unnamed start-ups specifically researching Alzheimer’s disease.
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Summary by Lorelei Yang
(Photo Credit: iStockphoto.com / Xesai)
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