President Biden on Wednesday reauthorized a bipartisan law funding public health initiatives designed to combat Alzheimer's disease, the latest in a series of bills championed by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine that target the disease.

The Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Reauthorization Act of 2024, or BOLD act, renews a 2018 law that allowed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help fund local dementia care and support.

Collins introduced the reauthorization alongside Nevada Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine, and West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito - the same Senate cohort that introduced the original version, Collins' office said in a written statement.

The BOLD act authorizes $33 million annually over five years to support public health centers aimed at Alzheimer's disease and caregiving interventions and public education on the disease; to improve reporting and analysis of Alzheimer's, caregiving and health disparities nationwide; and to promote agreements between the CDC and state health departments aimed at combatting cognitive decline and providing improved care for those with the disease, Collins' office said.

Its passage is "a tremendous victory for families and communities nationwide," Collins said in a prepared statement.

"By reauthorizing the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act, we are reaffirming our commitments to providing the tools needed to fight this devastating disease, and to not let Alzheimer's be one of the defining diseases of our children's generation as it has ours," Collins said.

Advertisement

The reauthorization was one of more than 1,800 health care bills raised during the 118th congress, Collins' office said. Ten of those bills have been signed into law, including four that Collins led or co-led, her office said.

Nearly 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's, according to estimates by the nonprofit Alzheimer's Association. That includes more than 29,000 Mainers, Collins said in the statement.

"This is good news," Collins said in a phone call Wednesday afternoon. "This is more funding to help the 6.9 million Americans with Alzheimer's."

Alzheimer's care costs the United States more than $360 billion per year, her office said.

Collins founded and co-chairs the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease and has introduced several bills designed to improve research into the disease and its implementation.

The senator was included in the British Broadcasting Corporation's list of 100 notable women earlier this month. The BBC cited, among other work, her co-authorship of the National Alzheimer's Project Act, which was reauthorized in October.

That same month, Biden signed the Alzheimer's Accountability and Investment Act into law, which Collins also authored.

Staff Writer Randy Billings contributed reporting.

Copy the Story Link

Send questions/comments to the editors.

filed under: Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's disease, cdc, Health, public health, Susan Collins

" Previous

Maine's Child Development Services is struggling to pay its contractors on time

Next "

Police investigating drive-by shooting in Westbrook Related Stories Latest Articles