Bipartisan lawmakers introduced the ASAP Act to require Medicare coverage of routine, FDA-approved blood-based biomarker tests for Alzheimer’s disease, aiming to expand earlier diagnosis for older Americans.
More than 7 million Americans age 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s, and supporters say blood tests can detect the disease before major cognitive decline, giving patients more time to consider treatment and lifestyle changes.
The push comes as Alzheimer’s remains the sixth-leading U.S. cause of death and the only top-10 cause without a cure, with cases projected to double in coming decades.
Congressional backers argue the stakes are also fiscal: Alzheimer’s is on track to cost the U.S. more than $780 billion a year without broader investment in prevention, diagnosis and caregiver support.