The U.S. Senate has overwhelmingly approved additional funding for health and education programs that were slated for deep cuts in President Bush’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2007.

During debate on the “Budget Resolution”(legislation passed by Congress that sets overall spending limits for federal programs), senators voted 73-27 in favor of an amendment by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) to provide an additional $7 billion for health, education and labor programs above the president’s budget request.

Passage of the Specter-Harkin amendment is a major win in the fight to restore federal funding for Alzheimer research and care programs and is a critical first step in the long federal budget process. Several hours after adopting the Specter-Harkin amendment, the Senate passed the Budget Resolution bill (S Con Res 83), setting the stage for action in the House of Representatives. Advocates will face a similar challenge to restore funding for Alzheimer research and programs when the House begins debating its version of the Budget Resolution the week of March 27.

The Alzheimer’s Association extends sincere appreciation to all of the individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, their caregivers, families and friends who flooded Senate offices with thousands of phone calls over a two-day period that were key to this victory. Advocates demonstrated the power of the Association’s grassroots network by forwarding e-mails, faxing colleagues, and urging friends and family across the country to call and e-mail their Senators to tell them to vote for the Specter-Harkin amendment.

Background:

In February, President Bush released his budget proposal for the 2007 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2006. Under the proposed budget, critical funding for Alzheimer research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would be cut from $652 million this year to $645 million in fiscal year 2007, in addition to slashing funding for all programs related to Alzheimer’s disease, including the Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 Contact Center, a nationwide matching grants program to states that fosters the development of innovative and cost effective programs for delivering services to those with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers, and the 10-year-old Safe Return® program, which protects those with Alzheimer’s disease who wander away from home and returns them safely to their loved ones.

The president’s budget plan also proposed to eliminate funding for a relatively new joint initiative between the Alzheimer’s Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a national action plan on brain health and test brain health programs in several U.S. communities.

Today, 4.5 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s disease; by 2050 that number could reach 16 million, devastating more families and bankrupting our healthcare system.

Federal government funding is critical to reducing the human impact of this disease and containing healthcare costs. Prior investment in research from the federal government has produced a wealth of promising findings on diagnosis, genetics, treatment and prevention. Studies demonstrate very clearly that by slowing the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and minimizing the effects of the disease, research can save lives and billions of tax dollars in Medicare and Medicaid payments in the near future.