The Food and Drug Administration cleared two more Alzheimer’s blood tests last month, the latest sign of how quickly Alzheimer’s science is accelerating.
But my career in Washington has taught me that scientific innovation does not automatically translate into better care. Too often, science moves forward, policy falls behind, and patients pay the price. Alzheimer’s is at risk of becoming another example.
Researchers have shown that new, advanced blood tests can identify signs of Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear, but Medicare cannot cover them for preventive screening without a lengthy federal process or action from Congress. Incomplete access to these tests will be a problem because diagnosis is the starting line for interventions that can slow disease progression. As policy lags behind the science, thousands of Californians could lose valuable time to intervene.
The bipartisan Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention Act, or ASAP Act, would address that gap by giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services authority to extend Medicare coverage to FDA-cleared blood tests to screen people for Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear. It would give patients a clearer path to early diagnosis and the opportunity to act during the critical window that treatment and lifestyle changes have the greatest impact.
An overwhelming 92% of voters support the ASAP Act, yet Congress has allowed nearly a year to pass without marking up, debating, or passing the bill — time Alzheimer’s patients do not have to lose.
Fortunately, California lawmakers in both chambers are helping build momentum for passage, with cosponsors including Reps. Young Kim (R), Jimmy Panetta (D), and Mike Thompson (D) in the House, and Sen. Alex Padilla (D) in the Senate. They deserve credit for recognizing that as Alzheimer’s science advances, Medicare policy needs to advance with it.
The support extends beyond California with about 200 House cosponsors and nearly 50 Senate cosponsors. Policy with this level of bipartisanship agreement is rare. California lawmakers who have not yet cosponsored the bill should join their colleagues and pass it into law without delay.
The case for earlier action in Alzheimer’s is only getting stronger. New research finds that among cognitively unimpaired older adults with elevated amyloid — a protein that forms plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease — walking just 5,000 to 7,500 steps per day was associated with delaying cognitive decline by roughly seven years.
And new anti-amyloid treatments have been shown to slow cognitive and functional decline in patients with Alzheimer’s, especially when started early. My colleagues at the University of Southern California Schaeffer Center have modeled the potential benefits of treating Alzheimer’s even earlier, finding that a treatment that slowed the disease by 50% before symptoms emerge could extend a patient's life by about a year on average and reduce healthcare spending by roughly $48,000 over the patient's remaining lifetime.
These outcomes are exactly what we want: more time, more independence and lower costs.
We certainly cannot afford the status quo. This year alone, health and long-term care costs for Americans living with Alzheimer's and other dementias are projected to reach $409 billion. Medicare and Medicaid will shoulder an estimated $263 billion of that burden, while families will shoulder $103 billion. California bears an especially heavy burden: Medicaid spent nearly $6 billion in 2025 caring for older Californians with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, the second-highest total of any state.
As the population ages and the number of Americans with dementia grows, those costs will put increasing pressure on families and entitlement programs already straining under the weight of an aging population.
Earlier diagnosis will not solve Alzheimer's on its own. We need continued research and better therapies. But it can give patients and families something they have historically lacked: time to pursue treatment, make lifestyle changes, and plan for the future.
Norm Enriquez, a California Alzheimer's patient, dedicated himself to getting answers about his cognitive decline and received an Alzheimer’s diagnosis early enough to begin treatment. He says too many Californians lack access to this kind of clarity or choice.
The science is moving. Congress should not let Medicare stand in its way. California lawmakers have helped build the bipartisan momentum behind the ASAP Act; those still on the sidelines should join them and help turn that momentum into action by passing the bill this year.
Joe Grogan is a Nonresident Senior Scholar at the USC Schaeffer Institute and served as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Donald J. Trump. He consults for pharmaceutical companies.
