The Department of Health and Human Services is revising the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease to cover 2026 through 2035, following Congress's 2024 reauthorization of the law that created it. The plan is not finalized yet, but Medicare families already have concrete coverage rules, a federal payment program, and a public comment record to act on now. HHS's Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) is the office drafting the update, and it has outlined its approach in a planning document covering the 2026-2035 window. While that document works its way to release, this checklist separates what is locked in today — Medicare's imaging and drug-access rules, a dementia care payment model — from what is still being decided.
Medical information disclaimer: This article is for general educational purposes only and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a physician or other qualified health professional about symptoms, medications, tests, or treatment decisions.
Official resources:
- Read the original report from Hhs — Use this primary source to review the complete report.
- Register through CMS’s official page — Use this page to review requirements and register directly.
Table of Contents
- What Is the National Alzheimer's Plan, and Why Is It Changing Now?
- What a Federal Watchdog Found Wrong With the Current Plan
- What's Already Locked In for Medicare Coverage
- The GUIDE Model: A Medicare Payment Program Already Running
- What's Still Undecided, and What to Watch For
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the National Alzheimer's Plan, and Why Is It Changing Now?
The National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease is the federal government's roadmap for dementia research, caregiving support, and public health response. Congress created it under the National Alzheimer's Project Act and reauthorized the law through 2035 in 2024, which is why HHS is now producing a plan that runs on the same timeline. ASPE's update covers federal goals and strategies through 2035, replacing the prior plan's shorter horizon.
To build it, HHS ran a formal request for information that closed August 15, 2026, asking researchers, caregivers, and people living with dementia what the plan's priorities should be. HHS also followed up with direct outreach. An August 2026 report on listening sessions held with people living with Alzheimer's and their caregivers will feed into the same update, giving the plan a direct line to the people it affects most.
What a Federal Watchdog Found Wrong With the Current Plan
Before the update ships, it's worth knowing what oversight has flagged. The Government Accountability Office reviewed the existing National Plan and found that HHS has not set near-term, project-level performance measures, quantitative targets, or timeframes for any of the plan's six long-term goals. GAO issued four open recommendations in its June 29, 2026 report directing HHS to fix that gap. The same report documented a disruption to the plan's oversight structure.
HHS paused the public quarterly meetings of the NAPA Advisory Council — the body of experts and stakeholders that guides the plan — from January 2025 to February 2026, and terminated 11 of its 12 non-federal members in August 2025 without advance notice. HHS swore in 11 replacement members in February 2026, restarting the council after more than a year without regular public sessions. For a Medicare family, this matters mainly as context: the plan's goals have existed without measurable targets, and the body meant to hold HHS accountable for them went dark for over a year. That history is part of why GAO's recommendations, and whether HHS acts on them, are worth tracking as the 2026-2035 update takes shape.
What's Already Locked In for Medicare Coverage
Separate from the plan update, Medicare's actual coverage rules for dementia care have already changed in ways families can use today. Amyloid PET scans — a type of brain imaging that detects the plaque buildup associated with Alzheimer's — no longer require enrollment in a research study or face a one-scan-per-lifetime limit. CMS finalized the removal of that national coverage restriction in October 2023, though individual coverage decisions are still made by local Medicare Administrative Contractors, so coverage can vary by region.
That imaging rule connects directly to drug access. The FDA-approved anti-amyloid drugs lecanemab and donanemab both require a biomarker test — either amyloid PET imaging or a cerebrospinal fluid sample — confirming Alzheimer's pathology before treatment starts, and periodically afterward to monitor how the drug is working. A Medicare family considering either drug should expect this testing step as a prerequisite, not an optional add-on.
- Ask the neurologist whether amyloid PET or a CSF test is the path being used, since the two have different logistics and are ordered differently.
- Confirm with the prescribing clinic that the local Medicare contractor covers the specific test ordered, since coverage is decided regionally rather than under one national rule.
- Expect follow-up biomarker testing during treatment, not just before it starts.
The GUIDE Model: A Medicare Payment Program Already Running
The GUIDE Model is a voluntary, eight-year Medicare payment demonstration from CMS that runs July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2032. It pays enrolled medical practices to provide dementia care navigation, a 24/7 support line, and caregiver training — services that are not typically billed as standalone Medicare benefits.
For caregivers, the most tangible piece is respite care: the model reimburses enrolled practices up to $2,500 per beneficiary per year to cover temporary paid care, giving a family caregiver scheduled relief without bearing the full cost themselves. This is a current, active program, not a future plan commitment, so it operates independently of whatever the 2026-2035 update eventually says.
- Ask the person's primary care or neurology practice directly whether it is enrolled in the GUIDE Model, since participation is practice-by-practice, not automatic.
- If enrolled, ask specifically about the respite-care reimbursement and the 24/7 support line, since both are part of the model but not always volunteered.
- If the practice isn't enrolled, ask whether a nearby practice in the same network is, since switching primary dementia care providers can open access to the program.
What's Still Undecided, and What to Watch For
The 2026-2035 National Plan itself has no finalized text as of GAO's June 2026 review. ASPE's own planning materials target only a "late 2026" release, with no confirmed date, so specific new commitments for the next decade are not yet locked in. Anything a family reads describing the update's final content before an official release should be treated as provisional.
What is confirmed is the process: a closed comment period, a documented listening-session record, and GAO's open recommendations on measurable targets. Those three pieces — the RFI input, the caregiver listening sessions, and the GAO findings — are the most concrete signals available right now for what the update is likely to address. Checking ASPE's site periodically for the plan's release remains the most direct way to know when specific 2026-2035 goals and timeframes become official, rather than relying on secondhand summaries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the 2026-2035 National Alzheimer's Plan finalized yet?
No. As of GAO's June 29, 2026 review, HHS had not released final text, and ASPE's own materials target only a "late 2026" release with no confirmed date.
Does Medicare already cover amyloid PET scans for Alzheimer's diagnosis?
Yes, without the research-enrollment or one-scan-per-lifetime limits that applied before CMS removed its national coverage restriction in October 2023, though local Medicare contractors still decide individual claims.
What does the GUIDE Model actually pay for?
Enrolled practices get paid for dementia care navigation, a 24/7 support line, and caregiver training, plus up to $2,500 per beneficiary per year toward respite care.
What did GAO find wrong with the current National Plan?
HHS has not set near-term, project-level performance measures, quantitative targets, or timeframes for any of the plan's six long-term goals, and the oversight council's public meetings were paused for over a year.
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