Joe Grogan’s recent op-ed, “How America Can Defuse the Alzheimer’s Economic Bomb,” argues that rising rates of Alzheimer’s disease threaten to overwhelm the U.S. economy by pushing more patients into costly long-term care, reducing workforce participation, and accelerating the insolvency of Social Security and entitlement programs. He calls on U.S. policymakers to make Alzheimer’s a national priority by expanding Medicare coverage for early detection tests, removing regulatory barriers to treatment, and embedding cognitive-health strategies into routine care.
In his op-ed, Joe writes:
With this kind of potential, U.S. leaders should make it a national priority to deploy the knowledge and innovations needed to make these savings a reality. Primary care providers should be equipped and incentivized to recommend healthy lifestyle changes for all patients, especially seniors at risk of cognitive decline. Blood tests that can help diagnose Alzheimer’s should be covered as part of routine Medicare’s enrollment and annual wellness visits. The ASAP Act just introduced in Congress give Secretary Kennedy the authority to make this happen. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) needs to eliminate the red tape the Biden administration put in place to limit patients’ access to Alzheimer’s therapies. And if gold standard studies support new tests and treatments that intervene before the symptoms of Alzheimer’s appear, then the FDA should approve them, and CMS should cover them without delay.
Sound policy choices could add years of healthy, productive life that could sustain GDP, keep the workforce strong, and improve the solvency of entitlement programs—while giving patients more cognitively vibrant years with the people they love. But if we fail to act, Alzheimer’s will only accelerate America’s path to financial vulnerability. China has made its choice. America must follow suit.
Read the full article on RealClear Health.