108th Congress

Alzheimer's Disease Research, Prevention, and Care Act of 2003

H.R. 1138 and S. 566

Background

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia among older people. Four million Americans suffer from AD, including 1 in 10 people over age 65 and nearly half of those over age 85. Nineteen million Americans say they have a family member with the disease. Without a cure, the number of Alzheimer's patients is expected to more than triple in the next 50 years.

On March 6, 2003, Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) introduced S. 566, the Alzheimer's Disease Research, Prevention, and Care Act of 2003. Senator Mikulski's strong support for AD research is due in part to the fact that her father suffered from the disease. Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), whose mother died of AD, introduced H.R. 1138, the companion measure, on March 6, 2003. Representative Markey, along with Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), founded the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease in 1999. Both Senator Mikulski and Representative Markey introduced identical legislation during the 107th Congress; however, no legislative action was taken on either measure.

Provisions of the Legislation/Impact on NIH

Section 3 of H.R. 1138 and S. 566 would require the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to give priority to AD research when spending appropriated funds. Section 4 of both bills would codify NIA's existing Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Initiative. Section 5 of the legislation would put into statute NIA's current AD cooperative clinical research program. NIA would be required to award grants that focus on early diagnosis and detection of AD and the relationship between vascular disease and AD. Section 5 would also give the Director of NIA the authority to establish a National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center to facilitate collaborative research.

Section 6 of both bills would require NIA to support clinical, social, and behavioral research on interventions for caregivers of patients with AD. This provision is similar to NIA's existing Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer Caregiver Health study, which is examining the effectiveness of various social, behavioral, environmental, and technological interventions for reducing the burden on caregivers of patients with AD.

Section 7 of H.R. 1138 and S. 566 would reauthorize NIA appropriations at $1.1 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2004, $1.2 billion for FY 2005, $1.3 billion for FY 2006, $1.4 billion for FY 2007, and $1.5 billion for FY 2008. Section 8 of the legislation would reauthorize the Alzheimer's Disease Demonstration Grants through FY 2008.

Status and Outlook

H.R. 1138, which was introduced on March 6, 2003, by Representative Markey, was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.

S. 566 was introduced on March 6, 2003, by Senator Mikulski and was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. No further action has occurred on this legislation.