{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-helps-congress-pass-two-bills-to-combat-alzheimers-and-improve-dementia-care", "Reed Helps Congress Pass Two Bills to Combat Alzheimer\u2019s & Improve Dementia Care", "2024-09-24", "2024", "2024-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", "jackreed", "https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 The number of Americans living with Alzheimer\u2019s is growing fast. One in three older Americans dies with dementia, according to the Alzheimer\u2019s Association. And Congress needs to wisely prioritize research dollars to effectively combat Alzheimer\u2019s and other forms of dementia.\n\nThe fight to find a cure and new treatments for Alzheimer\u2019s 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.\n\nNow that they have cleared both chambers, the National Alzheimer\u2019s Project Act (NAPA) Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer\u2019s Accountability and Investment Act (AAIA), are headed to President Joe Biden\u2019s desk to be signed into law.\n\nThe NAPA Reauthorization Act reauthorizes NAPA through 2035 as a much needed roadmap for coordinated federal efforts in responding to Alzheimer\u2019s and other forms of dementia. Since NAPA was first passed in 2011, Alzheimer\u2019s research funding has increased seven-fold. Today, funding for research into Alzheimer\u2019s and other dementias totals over $3.8 billion.\n\nThe Alzheimer\u2019s 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\u2019s research goals. This will help ensure Congress can make a well-informed decision to determine necessary Alzheimer\u2019s research funding levels.\n\n\u201cThis is a positive step toward renewing the nation\u2019s commitment to healthy aging, boosting funding for Alzheimer\u2019s research, and improving dementia care in Rhode Island and nationwide,\u201d said Senator Reed, a cosponsor of both bills. \u201cAlzheimer'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\u2019s and dementia are wisely allocated and can fund breakthroughs, a cure, and effective help for caregivers and families struggling with this disease.\u201d\n\nAccording to the Alzheimer\u2019s Association, 6.9 million older Americans \u2013 including 22,000 Rhode Islanders -- are living with Alzheimer\u2019s 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.\n\nAlzheimer\u2019s costs the United States an astonishing $360 billion per year, including $231 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the Alzheimer\u2019s Association, up $15 billion over the previous year\n\nAs 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\u2019s 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\u2019s disease and related dementias, as well as their caregivers.\n\nIn 2011, U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) led passage of the National Alzheimer\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-helps-congress-pass-two-bills-to-combat-alzheimers-and-improve-dementia-care"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7820539176464081, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}