Congress Must Fund the BOLD Act for Alzheimer's

The BOLD Act, passed by Congress last year, authorized $100 million over five years to carry out the various public health activities addressing Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
Alzheimer's is the most expensive disease in the U.S. and impacts over 5.7 million Americans that are diagnosed with it, not to mention their multitude of care partners. Utilizing the existing public health infrastructure to increase awareness of the disease, creating centers for excellence around the country and collecting data will improve early and accurate diagnosis. This step will lead to reduced costs of care and improved quality of life for those diagnosed with the disease. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will form the basis for these Centers of Excellence and work with state Departments of Public Health, physicians, medical centers and clinicians to accomplish these goals.
This directive by law can only be obtained through adequate funding in the annual budget process in each year. Congress must fully fund the law by providing $20 million in fiscal year 2020 for the CDC.
I ask you to reach out to your members of Congress and urge them to support this funding in the FY 2020 Budget. The Alzheimer's Association an I thank Representative David Scott of Georgia's District 13 for his support of this funding.

Jim Williams
Alzheimer's Legislative Ambassador
Smyrna, Georgia