🌎 Resumen en español · traducción automática
La representante estatal Kimberly Poore Moser está instando al Congreso a expandir la cobertura de Medicare para pruebas de detección de Alzheimer basadas en análisis de sangre, argumentando que esto es especialmente importante en las comunidades rurales de Kentucky donde el acceso a especialistas en demencia es limitado. La propuesta surge mientras el Congreso considera la Ley de Detección y Prevención del Alzheimer, que permitiría a los beneficiarios de Medicare acceder a pruebas de sangre más tempranas y crearía un camino para la cobertura de Medicare de pruebas de biomarcadores aprobadas por la FDA. Moser señala que el 85 por ciento de las personas diagnosticadas con demencia fueron inicialmente evaluadas por médicos no especialistas y que el 71 por ciento de los médicos rurales reportan acceso insuficiente a especialistas en demencia.
Traducción y resumen generados por IA a partir del artículo en inglés. Puede contener errores; consulte el texto original.
FRANKFORT, Ky. — State Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser is urging Congress to expand Medicare coverage of blood-based Alzheimer’s screening tests, citing a pressing need to improve early detection and access to care in rural Kentucky communities.
Moser, who chairs the House Health Services Committee, said in an opinion submitted to news outlets that new blood tests can detect biological markers associated with Alzheimer’s disease using a simple blood draw — a development that could be “particularly meaningful in Kentucky” because access to dementia specialists is unevenly distributed across the state.
“Access to dementia specialists and advanced screening services is not evenly distributed across our Commonwealth,” Moser wrote. She cited national data showing that 85 percent of people living with dementia were initially diagnosed by non-specialists, and 71 percent of rural physicians reported insufficient access to dementia specialists.
Rural residents in the United States have less access to memory care specialists and educational resources than in other areas, though Kentucky has initiated an interdisciplinary rural caregiving telemedicine program to reach residents in areas where dementia care resources are limited.
The push comes as Congress considers the Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention Act, which would provide a pathway to earlier dementia blood test screening for Medicare beneficiaries and creates a pathway for Medicare coverage of FDA-approved blood biomarker screening tests. The FDA approved the first blood test for Alzheimer’s diagnosis in May 2025.
Moser applauded U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee and made a hearing on the measure possible on September 15. She urged him to ensure legislation receives a floor vote this year.
Wider use of blood biomarker tests could help fill geographic gaps in care, as PET scans simply aren’t available in wide stretches of the country, including the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
The financial burden of dementia is substantial. Moser noted that in 2026, health and long-term-care costs for Americans living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias are projected to reach $409 billion, with Medicare and Medicaid covering approximately $263 billion.
Moser, a retired NICU and flight nurse and former director of the Northern Kentucky Office of Drug Control, emphasized that earlier detection could give patients and families more time to prepare for caregiving and future needs while reducing geographic barriers to specialty dementia care.
Sources
- House Health Services Committee press release and opinion editorial
- Alzheimer’s Association statement on the ASAP Act
- Research on rural dementia care access in Kentucky
This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) from a press release emailed to [email protected] by Kentucky House Majority Caucus, enriched with 2 web searches.
