WASHINGTON, DC – The number of Americans living with Alzheimer’s is growing fast.  One in three older Americans dies with dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.  And Congress needs to wisely prioritize research dollars to effectively combat Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. 

The fight to find a cure and new treatments for Alzheimer’s got a significant boost this week as the U.S. House of Representatives approved a pair of bipartisan bills backed by U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) that previously cleared the U.S. Senate.

Now that they have cleared both chambers, the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act (AAIA), are headed to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

The NAPA Reauthorization Act reauthorizes NAPA through 2035 as a much needed roadmap for coordinated federal efforts in responding to Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.  Since NAPA was first passed in 2011, Alzheimer’s research funding has increased seven-fold.  Today, funding for research into Alzheimer’s and other dementias totals over $3.8 billion.

The Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act would require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to submit an annual budget to Congress estimating the funding necessary to fully implement NAPA’s research goals.  This will help ensure Congress can make a well-informed decision  to determine necessary Alzheimer’s research funding levels.

“This is a positive step toward renewing the nation’s commitment to healthy aging, boosting funding for Alzheimer’s research, and improving dementia care in Rhode Island and nationwide,” said Senator Reed, a cosponsor of both bills. “Alzheimer's is a devastating disease that impacts millions of families.  While real progress has been made over the last decade since we enacted NAPA, we've got to keep up the positive momentum.  These bipartisan bills will help ensure federal research investments into Alzheimer’s and dementia are wisely allocated and can fund breakthroughs, a cure, and effective help for caregivers and families struggling with this disease.” 

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 6.9 million older Americans – including 22,000 Rhode Islanders -- are living with Alzheimer’s disease in 2024, a nationwide increase of about 200,000 cases over last year, and the population is projected to nearly double by 2060 to 14 million people.

Alzheimer’s costs the United States an astonishing $360 billion per year, including $231 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, up $15 billion over the previous year

As a member of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Senator Reed helped provide a $275 million increase for Alzheimer’s disease research in the fiscal year 2025 Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related Agencies Appropriations bill.  In 2019, NIH awarded Brown University researchers, along with Boston-based Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL), over $53 million in federal research funds  to lead a nationwide effort to improve health care and quality of life for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, as well as their caregivers.

In 2011, U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) led passage of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (P.L. 111-375), which Senator Reed supported.  NAPA convened a panel of experts, who created a coordinated strategic national plan to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025.  The law was set to expire soon and needed to be reauthorized to ensure that research investments remain coordinated, and their impact is maximized.