An early and accurate dementia diagnosis can improve the quality of life and reduce the financial impact of the disease. Yet as many as half of the over 7 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s are not diagnosed. Over 90% of Americans said they would want to take a simple test — such as a blood biomarker test — if it were available.

The bipartisan Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention (ASAP) Act represents a potentially transformative step toward leveraging diagnostic innovation for earlier Alzheimer’s disease detection. The bill would create a pathway for Medicare coverage of Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved and cleared dementia screening tests, accelerating access to blood tests and earlier detection of Alzheimer’s and other dementia. More timely detection and diagnosis would allow individuals living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia to plan for future decisions, enroll in a clinical trial, access treatments when they would be most effective, and implement modifiable risk reduction strategies. This bill would work to ensure individuals don’t face unnecessary access barriers to future transformative early detection tools for Alzheimer’s and dementia. 

The Alzheimer’s Association and AIM are proud to work with bipartisan congressional champions to advance the ASAP Act. Join us to ask Congress to leverage diagnostic innovation for earlier detection of Alzheimer’s and other dementia.