Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, today I wish to, with my colleague from Maryland, introduce the Spending Reductions through Innovations in Therapies agenda, or SPRINT, Act, a bipartisan, bicameral bill to accelerate the development of treatments and therapies for high-cost diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

Alzheimer's and other chronic conditions take a tremendous personal and economic toll on millions of Americans and their families. Moreover, in addition to the human suffering they cause, they pose significant challenges to the fiscal health of our Nation.

Alzheimer's disease alone costs the United States $183 billion a year, a figure that will only increase exponentially as the baby-boom generation ages. If nothing is done to slow or stop the disease, Alzheimer's will cost the United States $20 trillion over the next 40 years.

At a time of mounting deficits, the increasing incidence of diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer's also has dire implications for our Federal budget. For example, it is estimated that spending on diabetes accounts for one out of three Medicare dollars. The average annual Medicare payment for an individual with Alzheimer's is three times higher than for those without the condition. For Medicaid, average payments for someone with Alzheimer's are nine times higher.

The Federal Government is currently spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year caring for patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other conditions. This pricetag will only increase as our population ages. Left unchecked, these devastating diseases threaten not only to destroy our Nation's health, but also to bankrupt our finances.

The SPRINT Act, which we are introducing today, is intended to speed the development of therapies to significantly modify, cure, or prevent these high-cost, chronic conditions. Among other provisions, the bill authorizes $50 million for a public-private SPRINT program and fund within the Department of Health and Human Services to support advanced research into promising therapies that are most likely to improve health outcomes and reduce health care costs.

Modeled after the successful Defense Advance Research Project Agency, DARPA, the SPRINT program and fund will complement the basic research done by the National Institutes of Health. It will work through public-private partnerships to provide modest resources to research institutions and other innovators conducting advanced research into therapies and treatments for Alzheimer's and other high-cost chronic conditions.

Funding provided under the bill will be targeted to chronic conditions designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as being among the top 10 causes of death and focused on those that account for high current and projected costs to Federal health programs; reduce a victim's ability to carry out activities of daily living; have a death rate that has increased and is projected to increase significantly in future years; and lack existing therapies to prevent, control, or cure the condition or delay cognitive decline.

Each Federal dollar awarded under the program must be matched by at least $2 in private funding, and the Secretary may modify or terminate funding for projects that fail to meet milestones. Finally, the legislation will expedite review by the Food and Drug Administration of the therapies developed through the program so they can be delivered to patients as quickly as possible.

Chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer cause great suffering and financial hardship for millions of Americans and their families. Given their increasing prevalence as our population ages, they also threaten to bankrupt critically important programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

The SPRINT Act will leverage a relatively small Federal investment to speed the development of therapies that have the potential to prevent, delay, cure, and improve outcomes for these terrible diseases. It also offers us an opportunity to control the costs associated with these devastating conditions. I urge my colleagues to join us in cosponsoring this important legislation. I ask unanimous consent that a letter from the Alzheimer's Association endorsing our legislation be printed in the RECORD.

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