Most people think of Alzheimer’s disease as something that happens in old age. My family learned otherwise. When my mother began showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in her late 50s, our family entered a world of uncertainty. At an age when most people are still working, making plans for retirement, and looking forward to the future, my mother was facing a disease that would ultimately take her life at just 65 years old. Like many families confronting Alzheimer’s and other dementias, we spent a while searching for answers, navigating a complex healthcare system, and trying to understand what was happening. The diagnosis process was lengthy, stressful, and filled with uncertainty. My mother passed away in 2018. Today, however, the landscape of Alzheimer’s care looks dramatically different than it did during her illness. Researchers have made historic advances in our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. New treatments can slow disease progression for some individuals. Scientists are developing increasingly accurate biomarker tests that can detect the biological signs of Alzheimer’s before significant symptoms appear. What once seemed impossible is becoming reality. But scientific breakthroughs only matter if patients can access them. That is why Congress should pass the Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention Act, or ASAP Act, legislation that would establish a Medicare pathway for coverage of biomarker tests for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. For many people, the phrase “early diagnosis” may not sound particularly important. If there is no cure, they may ask, why does timing matter? The answer is simple: timing changes everything. While an Alzheimer’s diagnosis cannot reverse the disease, receiving that diagnosis earlier can give families more time to plan, prepare, and access available resources and treatments. An earlier diagnosis allows individuals and families to make informed decisions while they still can. It provides time to plan for future care, finances, legal matters, and living arrangements. It allows patients to participate in clinical trials that may help advance future treatments. It gives families access to support services and educational resources sooner rather than later. Most importantly, early diagnosis may allow eligible patients to access newly approved treatments at a stage when those therapies are most likely to be effective. These treatments are not cures, but they represent meaningful progress for a disease that for far too long offered little hope. For decades, Alzheimer’s was often diagnosed only after symptoms had become impossible to ignore. By then, opportunities had already been lost. Today, science offers a different path. Imagine if a simple routine blood test could help identify Alzheimer’s disease years earlier. Imagine if primary care physicians had better tools to recognize the disease and make an early diagnosis, or connect patients to specialists before significant cognitive decline occurs. Imagine if families had more time to prepare, plan, and make decisions together instead of being forced to react during a crisis. That future is no longer science fiction. It is within reach. Yet many Medicare beneficiaries may face barriers to accessing these advances because coverage policies have not kept pace with scientific innovation. Over the past decade, Congress has invested billions of dollars into Alzheimer’s and dementia research. Those investments are producing results. Researchers are developing better diagnostics, new treatments, and a deeper understanding of these diseases than ever before. The next step is ensuring that patients can benefit from those discoveries. As advocates from all 50 states (including 12 from Connecticut) recently traveled to Washington to meet with members of Congress, one message was clear: progress cannot stop now. Families facing Alzheimer’s disease do not have time to wait for policy to catch up with science. Every delay means more people miss opportunities for earlier diagnosis, treatment planning, clinical trial participation, and access to emerging therapies. My mother never had these opportunities. Today’s families should. Erin Mahoney lives in Avon. ...read more read less