Collins, Capito propose pair of bipartisan bills to upgrade, continue Alzheimer’s research

A pair of bipartisan bills recently introduced by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) seek to continue the nation’s progress in working to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease, which costs the United States a staggering $321 billion a year.

Along with a bipartisan group of their U.S. Senate colleagues, the lawmakers on May 12 proposed the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) Reauthorization Act, S. 4203, and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act, S. 4202, both of which have been referred to the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee for consideration.

“We have made tremendous progress in recent years to boost funding for Alzheimer’s research, which holds great promise to ending this disease that has had a devastating effect on millions of Americans and their families,” said Sen. Collins, who sponsored both measures. “The two bills I have introduced will maintain our momentum and make sure that we do not take our foot off the pedal just as our investments in basic research are beginning to translate into potential new treatments.”

“Both of these bipartisan bills work toward our shared goals, and I’m proud to introduce them today with my colleagues,” Sen. Capito said on May 17.

If enacted, S. 4203 would reauthorize NAPA through 2035 and update 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, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers’ offices.

  1. 4203 has five original cosponsors, including Sen. Capito and U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Mark Warner (D-VA). 

“More than a decade ago, I cosponsored, and Congress passed, the National Alzheimer’s Project Act, which has since played an important role in ensuring Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are a priority at NIH and other federal agencies,” said Sen. Capito. “Now, more than ever, as more Americans and their families are living with the effects of Alzheimer’s, we must keep up this momentum, continue to make critical research investments, and fight for all those impacted by this disease.”

Sen. Capito and the same group of lawmakers are also original cosponsors of S. 4202, which would continue a requirement through 2035 that the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) submit an annual budget to Congress estimating the funding necessary for NIH to fully implement NAPA’s research goals, the summary says.

Just two other areas of biomedical research – cancer and HIV/AIDs – have been the subject of special budget development aimed at speeding discovery, according to the summary.

The Alzheimer’s Association and UsAgainstAlzheimer’s endorsed both bills.

“We must not let Alzheimer’s define our children’s generation as it has ours,” Sen. Collins said on Wednesday.