42 U.S.C. § 280c–3 — Cooperative agreements to States and public health departments for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

(a) The Secretary, working with the Director of the CDC and heads of other agencies as needed, must award cooperative agreements to health departments of States, political subdivisions of States, and Indian tribes and tribal organizations. The goal is to address Alzheimer's disease and related dementias — including cutting cognitive decline, meeting caregivers' needs, and handling the disease's unique challenges — by supporting evidence-based programs that: (1) Educate and inform the public about Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, using evidence-based public health research and data. (2) Support early detection and diagnosis. (3) Reduce the risk of hospital stays for people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias that could have been avoided. (4) Reduce the risk of cognitive decline and impairment linked to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. (5) Improve support to meet the needs of caregivers for people with these conditions. (6) Support care planning and management for people with these conditions. (7) Support other relevant activities that the Secretary or the CDC Director identifies, as appropriate. (b) When awarding these agreements, the Secretary gives preference to applications that focus on health disparities, including populations and geographic areas where Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are most common. (c) To be eligible for an agreement, an entity must apply to the Secretary, in whatever form, manner, and with whatever information the Secretary requires, including a plan describing: (1) How the applicant plans to develop or expand programs that educate people through partnerships, workforce development, guidance and support, and evaluation related to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias — and, for a cooperative agreement, how the applicant will support other relevant activities identified by the Secretary or CDC Director. (2) How the applicant will coordinate with federal, tribal, and state Alzheimer's programs, other appropriate state, tribal, and local agencies, and relevant public and private organizations. (3) How the applicant will evaluate whether the program funded under the agreement is working. (d) Each health department that gets an agreement under subsection (a) must provide, from non-federal sources, an amount equal to 30 percent of the money it receives under the agreement, to help pay for the funded activities. This 30 percent can be cash or in-kind contributions. (e) The Secretary may waive all or part of that 30 percent matching requirement for any fiscal year, for a health department of a State, political subdivision, or Indian tribe or tribal organization (including one in a rural or frontier area). The Secretary can do this if requiring the match would cause serious hardship, or would make it impossible to carry out the purposes of the agreement. (f) The Secretary must make sure that activities funded under any cooperative agreement in this subpart do not needlessly repeat the work of other agencies and offices within the Department of Health and Human Services, specifically: (1) The work of the Alzheimer's disease centers of excellence described in section 280c–4. (2) The work of public health departments on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias described in this section. (g) A State cannot use money from a cooperative agreement under subsection (a) to pay for an item or service if payment for it has already been made, or reasonably could be made: (1) Under a State compensation program, an insurance policy, or a federal or state health benefits program; or (2) By an entity that provides health services on a prepaid basis.