Getting a Diagnosis ASAP: Progress in Early Alzheimer’s Detection

Until recently, a patient could not receive an Alzheimer’s diagnosis without an expensive scan or invasive procedure. Last year, the FDA cleared two blood-based biomarker tests, or BBB, that require only a routine blood sample for use in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease.

This is an important step forward in Alzheimer’s care, but it won’t mean much to patients unless they are given affordable access to these tests. Right now, federal law prohibits the Medicare program from covering BBB tests without very specific constraints being met, such as a review from the little-known U.S. Preventative Services Task Force or an act of Congress.

More than 7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, and a recent report found that over 90% of Americans would want to use this kind of simple medical test to detect Alzheimer’s if it was available to them. Capitol Hill has heard those calls, introducing bipartisan legislation called the ASAP Act which would cover the BBB tests in the Medicare program and improve early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. 

What are the barriers to early Alzheimer’s diagnosis and access to care? What is the ASAP Act and what would its passage mean for patients, clinicians, caregivers, and Medicare? And why does Congress need to act to make these breakthroughs accessible to patients when the FDA has already deemed them safe and effective? 

Join The Hill and the Alliance for Aging Research as we convene lawmakers, Alzheimer’s advocates, and health care experts to make sense of the hurdles currently in place to receive an early Alzheimer’s diagnosis and forge a path forward for patients. 

Speakers:

• Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Co-Sponsor, ASAP Act & Vice-Chair, Ways & Means Committee 
• Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), Co-Sponsor, ASAP Act & Member, Energy & Commerce Committee
• John Dwyer, Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation
• Carole Roan Gresenz, Dean, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University & Former Senior Advisor for Strategic Health Initiatives, President Biden’s Administration
• Joe Grogan, Nonresident Senior Scholar, USC Schaeffer Institute & Former Director, Domestic Policy Council & Assistant to President Trump
• Dr. Cara Leahy, Director, Cognitive Disorders, Memorial Healthcare & Doctor of Neurology, Memorial Healthcare Institute

Sponsor Perspective (in conversation with Sue Peschin, MHS, President & CEO, The Alliance for Aging Research)

• Jay Reinstein, Alzheimer’s Advocate

Moderators:

• Bill Sammon, SVP, Editorial Content, The Hill

• Kathleen Koch, Contributing Editor, The Hill