Support Robust Funding for Alzheimer's Disease Research

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as co-chair of the Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease to help raise awareness about the impact of Alzheimer's and the importance of increasing federal resources to assist individuals, families and caregivers.

In the United States, Alzheimer's has reached epidemic proportions. Today, the disease--a degenerative condition for which there is no cure or any effective treatment--is the 6th leading cause of death in our country, with a 68 percent increase in deaths caused by Alzheimer's within the last 10 years. Over 5.2 million Americans currently have this form of dementia and the number of family members and caregivers affected reaches more than 15 million. In my home state of New Jersey, an estimated 170,000 Garden State residents suffer from Alzheimer's, and 443,000 caregivers provided unpaid care. As our elderly population grows, the number of Americans affected by this disease is expected to triple by 2050.

The economic consequences of Alzheimer's are immense, and resources and assistance must be allocated appropriately to change the trajectory of the disease. Alzheimer's currently costs Americans $150 billion annually in Medicare and Medicaid programs alone. By 2050, care of Alzheimer's patients could reach $850 billion in Medicare and Medicaid costs. Including out of pocket and other expenses, the number totals one trillion.

Sharing the impact of the disease are the 15 million family members and others who act as caregivers and provide an estimated 17 billion hours of unpaid care--often relinquishing their jobs and other obligations to do so. These caregivers also endure significantly high rates of physical and emotional stress while attending to their loved ones. While their sacrifices are born of love and remain personally priceless, the economic costs of unpaid care are estimated to exceed $200 billion annually.

Research and preventative services are important tools that not only raise the quality of life for patients and families but serve as an investment that will reduce future costs. Accordingly, I worked with former Congressman, now Senator, Ed Markey (D-MA)--then Co-Chair of the Task Force--in 2010 to write the House-version of the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) which became Public Law 111-375. Our legislation established the ambitious goal of preventing and successfully treating Alzheimer's disease by 2025 in the United States, and required an annual National Plan to achieve this goal.

It is vital that we commit ourselves fully to this objective and time is of the essence.
We must make a robust investment in research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institutes on Aging (NIA). The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS & Education recently approved their FY 2015 bill, which calls for an additional $100 million in funding at the NIA. This funding will go a long way toward meeting the goals laid out in NAPA.

But we can do better--not only with funding but with better information and planning.

On that note, the Subcommittee also included language directing NIH to submit a professional judgment budget for Alzheimer's disease research. As a cosponsor of the Alzheimer's Accountability Act (H.R. 4351), I firmly believe that unfiltered information specifying the resources necessary to meet the goals and objectives laid out in the National Plan would provide Congress with a valuable tool for setting research and service priorities.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Rep. Maxine Waters--the current Co-chair of the Task Force--and I sent a letter to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House Appropriations Committee requesting that they include the Senate Subcommittee's funding level and the language requiring a professional judgment budget in the coming spending package.

I urge my colleagues to accept this request and work with the Task Force to continue to boost funding for Alzheimer's research and services in the coming years.

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