II 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1492 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 22, 2009 Mr. Reid (for Ms. Mikulski (for herself, Mr. Bond, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Burr, and Ms. Collins)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to fund breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s disease research while providing more help to caregivers and increasing public education about prevention.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act of 2009.

2.

Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1)Alzheimer’s disease is a disorder that destroys cells in the brain. The disease is the leading cause of dementia, a condition that involves gradual memory loss, decline in the ability to perform routine tasks, disorientation, difficulty in learning, loss of language skills, impairment of judgment, and personality changes. As the disease progresses, people with Alzheimer's disease become unable to care for themselves. The loss of brain cells eventually leads to the failure of other systems in the body. (2)An estimated 5,300,000 Americans have Alzheimer's disease and 1 in 10 individuals has a family member with the disease. By 2050, the number of individuals with the disease could reach 16,000,000 unless science finds a way to prevent or cure the disease. (3)One in 8 people over the age of 65, and nearly half of those over the age of 85 have Alzheimer's disease. Younger people also get the disease. (4)The Alzheimer's disease process may begin in the brain as many as 20 years before the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease appear. An individual will live an average of 4 to 6 years, and as many as 20 years, once the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease appear. (5)In 2005, Medicare alone spent $91,000,000,000 for the care of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and this amount is projected to increase to $160,000,000,000 in 2010. (6)Ninety-five percent of Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s disease have one or more other chronic conditions that are common in the elderly, such as coronary heart disease (26 percent), congestive heart failure (16 percent), diabetes (23 percent), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (15 percent). (7)Seven in 10 individuals with Alzheimer's disease live at home. Cost for care at home is higher for people with Alzheimer's disease than other individuals. Almost all families pay some out-of-pocket costs. (8)Half of all nursing home residents have Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. The average annual cost of Alzheimer's disease nursing home care is more than $77,000. Medicaid pays half of the total nursing home bill and helps 2 out of 3 residents pay for their care. Medicaid expenditures for nursing home care for people with Alzheimer's disease are estimated to increase from $21,000,000,000 in 2005 to $24,000,000,000 in 2010. (9)In fiscal year 2007, the Federal Government spent an estimated $411,000,000 on Alzheimer's disease research. Over the next 40 years, Alzheimer's disease-related costs to Medicare and Medicaid alone are projected to total $20,000,000,000,000 in constant dollars, rising to over $1,000,000,000,000 per year by 2050. This amounts to less than a penny spent on Alzheimer's disease research for each dollar that the Federal Government spends on Alzheimer's disease-related costs each year. (10)It is estimated that the annual value of the informal care system is $94,000,000,000. Family caregiving comes at enormous physical, emotional, and financial sacrifice, putting the whole system at risk. (11)Almost 60 percent of caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease are women, and over one-fourth have children or grandchildren under the age of 18 living at home. Caregiving leaves them less time for other family members and they are much more likely to report family conflicts because of their caregiving role. (12)Most Alzheimer's disease caregivers work outside the home before beginning their caregiving careers, but caregiving forces them to miss work, cut back to part-time, take less demanding jobs, choose early retirement, or give up work altogether. As a result, in 2002, Alzheimer's disease cost American business an estimated $36,500,000,000 in lost productivity, as well as an additional $24,600,000,000 in business contributions to the total cost of care.