Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently announced that “it is regulatory malpractice that we don’t have early [Alzheimer’s] screening already,” saying “we now know that early treatment of Alzheimer’s can postpone its onset.”
Kennedy echoes a sentiment that millions of Americans already feel: the healthcare system should be more concerned with prevention and early intervention than late-stage crisis care. His statement should serve as a wake-up call for doctors, policymakers and anyone concerned for the country’s long-term fiscal health.
More than 7 million Americans currently have Alzheimer’s disease, a number expected to nearly double by 2060 — a medical crisis spiraling into a fiscal disaster. Neither Medicare nor Medicaid are equipped to absorb a massive jump in costs. The Medicare hospital insurance fund is set to run out of reserves in 2033.
Exacerbating the crisis is that, for decades, Alzheimer’s policy has been built around costly late-stage crisis care instead of early diagnosis and action, which can extend healthy lives and prevent or postpone costly long-term care. The national average cost for a semi-private room in a nursing home is $112,4201 per year.
In contrast, raising individual healthy life expectancy by just one year would be worth about $566,000 per person. And strategic investments in disease prevention and early detection could save the US health care system up to $2.2 trillion a year by 2040, more than $7,000 per person.
The good news is that diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s early is possible. We are entering a new age of Alzheimer’s care, with breakthrough tools that can change the trajectory of the disease. As Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz noted, a blood test can now identify Alzheimer’s risk years before symptoms fully take hold.
Catching the disease early allows patients to intervene during the critical window when interventions work best. New research shows that people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease who walked between 5,000 to 7,000 steps saw cognitive decline delayed by seven years in comparison with those who walked less. And new Alzheimer’s treatments have proven effective in delaying disease progression for patients like Lori Baetz. She went from getting lost in her own neighborhood to returning to her normal routine through treatment.
More than a medical triumph, research from the University of Southern California shows these therapies could extend patients’ lives by a full year, reduce time spent in nursing homes by nearly two years, cut medical costs by $48,000 and even preserve the ability to keep working — if started before age 70 and prior to the onset of symptoms.
To realize those benefits, early diagnosis is imperative. The science has advanced; it’s now time for policy to ensure the system catches up.
The ASAP Act is one lever that policymakers can pull. By giving the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services clearer authority to incorporate Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved diagnostic tools into screening recommendations, it would help make earlier detection more routine, making early treatment more feasible.
In addition, creating more predictable pathways for integrating new diagnostics and treatments could reduce delays that currently erode their effectiveness. And elevating Alzheimer’s as a national priority would reinforce the importance of early detection and timely intervention across the healthcare system.
Importantly, these steps are widely supported.
Polling in competitive congressional districts shows overwhelming bipartisan support for action: 80% of voters say that prevention and early detection could save Medicare billions, and more than 9 in 10 support making it easier for doctors to prescribe FDA-approved Alzheimer’s treatments.
Kennedy and Oz are rightly sounding the alarm. Policymakers would be wise to act quickly to address voter concerns, speed better Alzheimer’s care to patients, and curb a growing fiscal crisis.
We have the tools. It’s time to act.
Charles Sauer is president of the Market Institute.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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