{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://buchanan.house.gov/2026/09/16/house-ways-and-means-committee-advances-buchanan-bill-to-expand-medicare-coverage-for-early-alzheimers-detection/", "House\u00a0Ways and Means Committee Advances Buchanan Bill to Expand Medicare Coverage for Early Alzheimer\u2019s Detection", "2026-09-16", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "House", "FL", "Vern Buchanan", "B001260", "buchanan.house.gov", "buchanan", "https://buchanan.house.gov/media/", "scraper", "\u201cEarly Detection of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease is Key to Giving Families More Time, Options and Hope\u201d\n\nThe ASAP Act Would Provide Medicare Coverage for Preventive Alzheimer\u2019s Detection\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 Today, Congressman Vern Buchanan, Vice Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and Chairman of the Health Subcommittee, announced that his bipartisanAlzheimer\u2019s Screening and Prevention (ASAP) Act (H.R. 6130) advanced out of the committee in a unanimous vote. Buchanan\u2019s bill is co-led by Congressman Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.).\n\n\u201cEarly detection of Alzheimer\u2019s is key to giving families more time, options and hope,\u201d said Buchanan. \u201cHaving served as a caregiver to an elderly parent with Alzheimer\u2019s and with nearly 200,000 seniors in my district, this issue is deeply personal to me. Expanding access to early detection will give millions of Americans the opportunity to plan ahead and seek preventative care. I\u2019m grateful to the committee for advancing my Alzheimer\u2019s Screening and Prevention Act and call on my colleagues in the House to pass it and ensure every American can benefit from these lifesaving innovations.\u201d\n\n\u201cMore than seven million Americans are living with Alzheimer\u2019s, and for too many families, a diagnosis comes only after the disease has already taken a serious toll,\u201d said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08). \u201cToday, we have blood-based tests that can help detect Alzheimer\u2019s before symptoms even appear, but outdated Medicare rules stand between seniors and access to these tools. As Chairman of our Health Subcommittee, Representative Buchanan has prioritized policies that improve health outcomes for Americans, informed in part by his own experience caring for his parent. His ASAP Act will help make sure seniors and their families can benefit from earlier detection and have more information as they navigate this devastating disease.\u201d\n\n\u201cMany promising and potentially lifechanging advancements are being made in Alzheimer\u2019s diagnoses, treatment, and care; but they will mean little unless patients are able to access and afford them,\u201d Congressman Tonko said. \u201cThis is where Congress can and must act. I was proud to join Congressman Buchanan to introduce the ASAP Act, which builds a pathway for Medicare coverage of FDA approved blood biomarker screening tests that help diagnose Alzheimer\u2019s disease. I urge my colleagues to join us in advancing this bipartisan legislation that keeps Congress at pace with these exciting new innovations and ensures they are accessible to those who need them.\u201d\n\nThe ASAP Act authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide a pathway for Medicare coverage for FDA-approved or cleared blood-based biomarker tests for the early detection of Alzheimer\u2019s and related dementias. Under current law, Medicare can only cover preventive services that Congress has specifically authorized or that are recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. That can delay coverage for years after a screening test receives FDA approval.\n\nWith 7.2 million Americans living with Alzheimer\u2019s nationwide and more than 580,000 Floridians facing the disease, the ASAP Act aims to give families more time to plan ahead, seek care sooner and preserve their quality of life as blood-based screening technology continues to advance.\n\nBuchanan\u2019s bill is supported by the Alzheimer\u2019s Association and the Alzheimer\u2019s Impact Movement and has secured 215 bipartisan cosponsors in the House. Senators Susan Collins(R-Maine) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) have introduced companion legislation in the Senate which has already secured 50 bipartisan cosponsors.\n\nBuchanan is a leader in advancing legislation to support Alzheimer\u2019s patients, caregivers and families. In June 2026, he introduced a bipartisan resolution alongside Reps. Nanette Barrag\u00e1n (D-Calif.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and Linda S\u00e1nchez (D-Calif.), recognizing June 2026 as Alzheimer\u2019s and Brain Awareness Month.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-17T09:52:05Z", "2026-09-17T09:53:00Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://buchanan.house.gov/2026/09/16/house-ways-and-means-committee-advances-buchanan-bill-to-expand-medicare-coverage-for-early-alzheimers-detection/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.4594771675765514, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}