Several bills aimed at renewing the nation’s commitment to healthy aging and funding for Alzheimer’s research are moving their way through the legislative process.
Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee unanimously passed renewals of the National Alzheimer’s Project, NAPA, Reauthorization Act; the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act; the Building Our Largest Dementia, BOLD, Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Reauthorization Act; and the Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act.
All of those bills are supported by the Alzheimer’s Association and its advocacy affiliate, Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, or AIM.
“These bipartisan pieces of legislation will renew our nation’s commitment to addressing the growing Alzheimer’s and dementia public health challenge and build on the progress made over the last decade,” Robert Egge, the Alzheimer’s Association chief public policy officer and AIM president, said in a statement.
Alzheimer’s roadmap
The NAPA Reauthorization Act would reauthorize NAPA through 2035 to provide a roadmap for federal efforts in responding to Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. NAPA, set to expire in 2025, was signed into law in 2011 and established the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care and Services. The act emphasizes the importance of healthy aging and risk reduction for Alzheimer’s disease to reflect the sixth goal of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which was updated in December.
The bill also would add new federal representatives to the NAPA Advisory Council from the Department of Justice, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Social Security Administration.
Renewal of the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act, signed into law in 2015, would continue to prioritize Alzheimer’s and dementia research funding at the National Institutes of Health by requiring NIH scientists to continue to submit annual professional judgment budgets to Congress.
In August 2022, NIH researchers requested an additional $321 million in fiscal year 2024 for research into Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Alzheimer’s research funding has seen a seven-fold increase since passage of NAPA in 2011. Today, funding for research into Alzheimer’s and other dementias totals more than $3.5 billion.
The BOLD Reauthorization Act would enable public health departments to continue to work to improve brain health across the life course and support caregivers in their communities. Through the BOLD Act, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has provided funding to state, local and tribal health departments to implement dementia interventions, including interventions related to risk reduction, early detection and diagnosis, and caregiver support.
Since the BOLD Act first was adopted in 2018, annual funding for it has grown from $10 million in fiscal year 2020 to $33 million in fiscal year 2023.
Supporting people with Alzheimer’s, family caregivers
The Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act would reauthorize and extend the Lifespan Respite Care Program, designed to help family caregivers access affordable, high-quality respite care. First enacted in 2006, the program was reauthorized in 2020. The act, HR 6160, would extend the program through 2028.
Also, a new bill of rights for people living with Alzheimer’s disease also is being advocated for by Voices of Alzheimer’s, a nonprofit organization, to help ensure ethical treatment and an equal quality of life.
