Menendez, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Bills to Bolster Alzheimer’s Research

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) today joined a bipartisan group of senators in introducing a pair of bills that would cement and build on the important progress that has been made to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's costs our nation an astonishing $321 billion per year, including $206 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid. If we continue along this trajectory, Alzheimer's is projected to claim the minds of 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.

"In the years since I lost my mother to this devastating disease, I have only increased my commitment to fighting for other Alzheimer's patients and their families by securing important programs and funding," said Sen. Menendez. "These bills are a bipartisan commitment to continuing our important and critical work to ensure we emerge victorious in this fight."

The NAPA Reauthorization Act 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 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 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.

Both bills are authored by Sens. Menendez, Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).

"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."

"The passage of the National Alzheimer's Project Act more than a decade ago was a turning point in our nation's fight against Alzheimer's, fundamentally changing the trajectory of disease research for the better," said George Vradenburg, chair and co-founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer's. "UsAgainstAlzheimer's is thankful to Sen. Collins for her leadership on behalf of patients living with Alzheimer's and their loved ones. We look forward to working with her and other members of Congress to reauthorize NAPA and continue driving toward an end to Alzheimer's disease."