A simple blood test can now detect Alzheimer's! Learn more about ASAP & why congress needs to move this bill!

A simple blood test can now detect Alzheimer's before symptoms appear – a scientific milestone that can change lives. Fewer than 10% of people living with mild cognitive impairment ever receive a diagnosis, meaning most people aren’t identified early enough to benefit from today’s FDA-approved treatments.

Thankfully, Representative Brad Schneider can play an important role in ensuring people in Illinois and across the country can benefit from early detection of Alzheimer’s. The bipartisan ASAP ACT creates a pathway for Medicare coverage of FDA-approved blood tests that detect Alzheimer's biomarkers – tests that provide a simpler, more scalable approach than previous diagnostic pathways.

This is a “mammogram moment” for Alzheimer’s – just as congress enabled Medicare to over routine mammograms, leading to earlier detection and declining breast cancer deaths, Congress can deliver the same breakthrough for Alzheimer’s. The ASAP Act uses the same proven approach Congress just applied to cancer screening through the MCED Act, creating a pathway for coverage while allowing Medicare to use its evidence-based process.

My father, Ronald J. Erkman, passed 9 ½ years ago at the age of 69 from Alzheimer’s. My dad was a young 66 when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s - an age when he should have been enjoying his golden years traveling and spending time with his beloved family. Alzheimer’s stole my father from himself and from his family who loved him beyond measure. The passage of the Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention (ASAP) Act will mean other beloved fathers, grandfathers (anybody!) can take a simple blood test to detect Alzheimer’s early and then benefit from today’s treatments, giving them more time with their loved ones.

Please join me and the Alzheimer's Association in thanking Representative Schneider for cosponsoring the bipartisan Alzheimer's Screening and Prevention (ASAP) Act, and ask him to tell congressional leadership to move this bill ASAP!

To learn more about this disease and how you can join the fight to end Alzheimer’s, visit alz.org.