America is entering a new era in the fight against Alzheimer’s. For the first time, we have tools to detect the disease earlier and intervene when it matters most. Science is moving quickly, and our healthcare system now has the opportunity to speed those innovations to patients — but only if good policy paves the way.
Having worked with seniors in Florida for many years, I see the impact of Alzheimer’s on older adults, caregivers, and families. The disease slowly steals everything — memories, independence, and everyday joys — while putting an enormous emotional and financial burden on American families. I am working to understand those struggles and shape our nation’s strategy to address them.
I see tremendous promise in earlier detection and prevention. I also see the growing urgency of the Alzheimer’s crisis and the gaps that could leave us unprepared to address it. More than 7 million Americans, including nearly 600,000 Floridians, are living with Alzheimer’s. Today, patients wait an average of 3.5 years to receive a dementia diagnosis, often after significant memory loss and irreversible cognitive decline. Families are left responding to crisis instead of getting diagnosed early and having the opportunity to plan, prepare, and pursue early interventions that can bring more time with loved ones.
We have the tools and knowledge to change this. New blood tests can identify biological markers associated with Alzheimer’s through a simple blood draw. Advances in imaging are helping clinicians detect changes in the brain earlier, leading to more accurate and quicker diagnoses. And addressing risk factors sooner — like cardiovascular health, exercise, nutrition, and sleep — can promote brain health and prevent cognitive decline.
But these advancements matter only if patients can access them.
Medicare has an important opportunity now to modernize its approach to cognitive health by requiring standardized, validated cognitive assessment tools during initial and annual wellness visits. Right now, assessments vary widely across practices, and early signs of Alzheimer’s are missed during the critical window when patients have the greatest opportunity to benefit from intervention and treatment.
Strengthening and standardizing this process represents a crucial opportunity to align Medicare with the advances already taking place in medicine.
Just as we routinely check blood pressure and cholesterol to protect heart health, screen for cancers before symptoms appear, and monitor other markers to identify concerns sooner, evaluating cognitive health should become an expected part of aging well. We should be moving toward a healthcare system that identifies Alzheimer’s risks earlier and helps patients act early.
Standardizing assessments doesn’t mean more steps for Medicare. It brings Alzheimer’s care in line with how we already approach other major health conditions.
Catching Alzheimer’s earlier gives families time to begin treatment, make important decisions, remain independent, and spend meaningful moments together.
The financial case is equally compelling. In Florida, one year in a skilled nursing facility can exceed $120,000. As Alzheimer’s cases rise, Medicare and Medicaid face growing costs. Helping people remain healthier and independent longer improves quality of life while reducing costly hospitalizations, delaying nursing home placement, and helping taxpayer dollars go further.
America has long led the world in biomedical innovation. We should also lead in ensuring patients benefit from the breakthroughs our scientists are creating.
This issue is personal to me. I watched my mother lovingly care for my grandmother through progressive dementia. I know the sacrifices families make and the heartbreak they endure. I also know what even a few additional months of clarity, independence, and meaningful time together can mean.
AMERICA LEADS ON ALZHEIMER’S INNOVATION. CHINA ACTUALLY TAKES IT SERIOUSLY
After decades of working in Alzheimer’s policy, I have never been more optimistic. New scientific breakthroughs, together with a growing recognition of the importance of prevention and early detection, can help us accelerate the pace of change and reach a brighter future faster.
For families living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias today, and for the generations who will face this disease tomorrow, we have a responsibility to make good policy a reality. If we do, we will see that progress take shape around dinner tables where conversations continue, at graduations where grandparents still recognize and cheer for their grandchildren, in living rooms where independence endures, and in the moments that allow families to hold on to one another just a little longer.
Michelle Branham is secretary of the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, former vice president of public policy in Florida for the Alzheimer’s Association, and current chairwoman of the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.