Remarks underscore urgent need for bipartisan ASAP Act, early detection as standard of care
Washington, D.C., April 21, 2026 — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called for earlier Alzheimer’s screening and detection today, declaring it “absolutely critical” — remarks welcomed by the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) as a significant step toward making early detection the standard of care.
“It’s absolutely critical because we now know early treatment of Alzheimer’s can postpone its onset. It’s almost regulatory malpractice that we do not have early screening already,” said Secretary Kennedy during today’s House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing.
“Secretary Kennedy is right — the absence of early screening for Alzheimer’s is a problem that demands action,” said Robert Egge, chief public policy officer of the Alzheimer’s Association and AIM president. “Today’s FDA-approved treatments work best when started at the earliest symptomatic stages of the disease, but fewer than 10% of people living with mild cognitive impairment ever receive a diagnosis. Every day without early screening is a day too many families are denied the time they need to understand a diagnosis, pursue treatment, apply lifestyle intervention strategies and plan ahead.”
Secretary Kennedy’s remarks align directly with the goals of the bipartisan Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention (ASAP) Act, legislation championed by the Alzheimer’s Association and AIM that would clear the legal barrier preventing Medicare from covering screening tests for diseases that cause dementia. Under current law, Medicare cannot cover any screening test for Alzheimer’s.
Researchers have developed blood tests capable of detecting Alzheimer’s biomarkers through a simpler, more scalable approach than previous diagnostic pathways. Yet without a change in law, Medicare cannot cover these tests for asymptomatic individuals — leaving millions of Americans without access to potentially life-changing early detection.
“This is a ’mammogram moment’ for Alzheimer’s,” Egge continued. “When Congress enabled Medicare coverage for routine mammograms, screening rates climbed and breast cancer deaths dropped. We have that same opportunity today for Alzheimer’s to detect early and treat early.”
The ASAP Act does not mandate coverage — it simply gives Medicare the authority to cover early Alzheimer’s screening based on its existing evidence-based process, using the same proven approach Congress recently applied to blood-based cancer screening through the MCED Act.
AIM and the Alzheimer’s Association urge Congress to act swiftly to pass the ASAP Act and encourage the administration to use every available regulatory tool to advance early detection of Alzheimer’s and other dementia.
