Bipartisan, bicameral legislation authored by U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Susan Collins (R-ME) to establish the nation’s first public health infrastructure to address Alzheimer’s disease received U.S. Senate approval on Dec. 12.
The Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act, S. 2076, which Sen. Collins introduced on Nov. 6, 2017, along with Sen. Capito and U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.
“After decades of increasing investments in biomedical research for Alzheimer’s, we are ready for the next step: to translate research into practice,” said Sen. Collins, a founder and Senate co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease. “The BOLD Act takes a multi-pronged public health approach that would create a modern infrastructure for the prevention, treatment and care of Alzheimer’s and related dementias.”
Calling Alzheimer’s disease one of the United States’ “greatest and under-recognized public health threats of our time,” Sen. Collins noted that some 5.5 million Americans have the disease, a number that “is soaring as our overall population grows older and lives longer.”
The offices of Sens. Capito and Collins pointed out that the nation now spends more than $277 billion a year – $186 billion of that total to cover related Medicare and Medicaid costs – and without federal action, that total could rise to more than $1.1 trillion a year by 2050 in associated costs for as many as 14 million Americans.
If enacted, S. 2076 would authorize the award of cooperative agreements to: establish or support national or regional centers of excellence in public health practice in Alzheimer’s disease; promote cognitive functioning, address cognitive impairment and unique aspects of Alzheimer’s disease, and help meet the needs of caregivers; and analyze publicly reported data on the state and national levels regarding cognitive decline, caregiving and health disparities, among other provisions, according to the congressional record summary.
“To prevent millions of more Americans and their families from being devastated by Alzheimer’s, we have to tackle this disease on all fronts,” Sen. Capito said last week. “The BOLD Act helps us do that by empowering our federal and state public health infrastructure to play an expanded role and by helping us gain a better understanding of the true scope of the disease.”
S. 2076 would apply a public health approach to reduce risk, detect early symptoms, advance care and improve data, among other provisions, according to a summary provided by the lawmakers.
Specifically, S. 2076 would authorize that the lead agency, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), receive $20 million annually over five years to establish Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Public Health Centers of Excellence; award cooperative agreements to state health departments to address local needs around improved brain health, reduced risk of cognitive decline and better related care; and would award data grants to bolster analyses and timely reporting of myriad data related to Alzheimer’s at the state and national levels, according to the senators’ summary of the bill.
“This is a very personal priority for me, and I’m excited for it to head to the president’s desk,” Sen. Capito said. “It’s a great step for those living with Alzheimer’s and those who care for and love them.”
S. 2076 has 57 cosponsors in the Senate and the support of 183 organizations, including the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement.
The bipartisan same-named House bill, H.R. 4256, also introduced on Nov. 6, 2017 by U.S. Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Paul Tonko (D-NY), has 253 cosponsors and is under consideration by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.