The Biden administration signed two new laws into effect, strengthening the U.S.'s fight against Alzheimer’s. The laws continue and expand research, improve early detection, enhance caregiver support, and lay out plans to reduce known risk factors.
“No president has entered the White House with as clear a focus on Alzheimer’s disease as Joe Biden,” Maria Shriver and George Vradenburg wrote in a 2021 Time Magazine op-ed. “The commitment and attention on Alzheimer’s at the highest levels of our elected leadership is long overdue.” This past week, his administration codified that commitment and attention when President Biden signed into effect two key pieces of legislation. The NAPA Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act are two newly signed bills that intensify, extend, and elevate the U.S. government’s ongoing efforts to combat Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia.
This legislation builds on the foundations laid by Barack Obama’s National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA), which established the first sweeping national plan to address Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Alzheimer’s affects over 6 million Americans and continues to be a leading cause of death among older adults and an issue of life-altering concern to more than 16 million U.S. caregivers.
The new bills had bipartisan support, with leadership frmo Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) a founder and co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease announced that their bipartisan. Senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) is one of many with a family connection to Alzheimer’s: “Since my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1985, I have fought to ensure the federal government has the funding, resources, and coordination necessary to find a cure for this disease. The National Alzheimer’s Plan Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability Act have transformed our understanding of the disease and its risk factors for more than a decade. But our work is not yet done,” Markey said in a statement.
“[The] extension of these bills until 2035 is a commitment from Congress and the Biden administration that we will not stop fighting until Alzheimer’s is a disease only found in history books,” he added. “I thank Senator Collins, Senator Warner, and my colleagues for their support in delivering hope to millions of families just like mine across the country.”
Advocates and experts have praised the new legislation, emphasizing the importance of continued federal investment in both research and care.
“The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America applauds the federal government for continuing to prioritize the fight against Alzheimer’s disease,” the organization said in a recent statement. “Both new laws will go a long way towards ensuring that Washington continues investing in Alzheimer’s research towards a cure, while also focusing on improving early detection; enhancing caregiver support; risk reduction; and raising awareness.”
“These two bills are incredibly important to the work we are doing to end the scourge of Alzheimer’s,” UsAgainstAlzheimer’s cofounder and chair George Vradenburg said in a statement. “By reinforcing our national commitment to fighting this crisis and requiring accountability for every federal dollar spent, these bills help ensure that our country will keep its foot on the gas to stop this disease.”
What do the new laws do for people living with Alzheimer’s and their families?
Here’s how the Biden administration’s new laws extend the National Alzheimer’s Project for another decade, and expanding it to elevate patient voices, improve early detection of Alzheimer’s, ensure more support for caregivers, and put more resources toward diversifying research to help more patients:
Signed into law in January 2011 by then-president Obama, NAPA called for a coordinated national plan to accelerate research and improve care and services for people living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias, and their families.
NAPA created the first national plan for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, developed with guidance from a public-private advisory council. The council’s expertise has been focused on expanding and streamlining programs to improve health outcomes for those living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias as well as on reducing the financial strain on families and public systems.
The act leverages existing programs within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and collaborating with other federal agencies, including U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense.
These agencies, along with representatives from various branches of HHS including the National Institute on Aging and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, formed an group tasked with coordinating research, accelerating treatment development, and improving early diagnosis and care coordination. The group’s efforts also emphasize addressing racial and ethnic disparities in rates of Alzheimer’s and other dementia and aligning with international efforts to combat these diseases. The plan they created is reviewed by the advisory council every year to ensure continued progress.
“By reinforcing our national commitment to
fighting this crisis and requiring accountability for
every federal dollar spent, these bills help ensure
that our country will keep its foot on the
gas to stop this disease.”
The NAPA Reauthorization Act bill extends the National Alzheimer’s Project through 2035 and makes changes to the National Alzheimer’s Project, to enhance support for coordination of federal planning, programs, and other efforts. In particular, the bill incorporates a focus on promoting healthy aging and reducing known, science-backed risk factors associated with cognitive decline.
The bill also expands the advisory council on Alzheimer’s research, care, and services to include additional members. Now, the council will welcome a researcher with experience recruiting and retaining diverse clinical trial participants, an individual diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and representatives from additional federal agencies.
Continuing a federal commitment to research and care
The Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act is particularly focused on ensuring that the federal government continues to allocate substantial funding for Alzheimer’s research, building on the progress already made over the past decade. In fiscal year 2023, for example, the National Institutes of Health allocated over $3.5 billion to Alzheimer’s research, a sharp increase from the $2.34 billion allocated by the Trump administration in 2019, when, according to leading scientists at the time, $2 billion a year was the minimum viable amount needed to meet the National Plan’s goals.
In the upcoming election, these issues will remain in focus, as Biden’s Vice President Kamala Harris faces off with former president Donald Trump. Harris has said she plans to uphold this legislation while expanding the Affordable Care Act, capping out-of-pocket drug costs for all Americans, reducing Americans’ medical debt, and expanding access to long-term care. Trump has expressed interest in rolling back some aspects of the Affordable Care Act, and in deregulation and increasing private competition in healthcare markets as an approach to reducing medical costs.
