Alzheimer’s Early Detection Act of 2026

Key Points

• The bill requires private health insurance and Medicaid to cover Alzheimer's biomarker testing, which uses blood, tissue, or genetic analysis to detect signs of the disease early.
• Insurers cannot charge higher out-of-pocket costs for this testing than for other medical care, and cannot require patients to try other treatments first before approving it.
• The bill directs insurers to make testing more accessible for rural and underserved communities and to favor minimally invasive tests like blood draws when appropriate.
• Insurers must decide on prior authorization requests within 72 hours, or 24 hours in urgent cases, and the test is automatically approved if they miss the deadline.
• Medicaid programs would also be required to cover this testing in the same way as private insurance plans.
• The National Institutes of Health must study and report to Congress on how well the testing works, with the new coverage rules starting about one year after the bill becomes law.