Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cognitive Assessments Dementia Screening topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances bill to require validated cognitive assessments in pilot form, removes age limit
Summary
The committee passed HB 700 with amendments that remove the age-65 limitation and keep the data-collection component as a pilot; Alzheimer's Association amendments to require a validated tool were discussed but the committee deferred adding the assessment to the statutory annual wellness-visit mandate.
The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services voted to advance HB 700, a bill concerning cognitive assessments and reporting, adopting amendments from the Council on Developmental Disabilities that remove the age-65-only restriction and broaden the measure to include individuals with elevated risk for Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
Witnesses from the Executive Office on Aging, the Alzheimer’s Association and multiple caregiving and provider organizations testified in support. Kobe Chock of the Alzheimer’s Association asked the committee to require a validated cognitive assessment tool and said early diagnosis allows access to emerging disease-modifying therapies. The association’s written amendment sought statutory language specifying use of a validated tool; the committee did not adopt that change into a required annual-wellness-visit mandate at this stage, citing potential procedural complications.
The Council on Developmental Disabilities advocated removal of the age-65 threshold, noting earlier onset among people with Down syndrome and certain traumatic brain injuries; the committee adopted that change. Several family caregivers testified that early diagnosis enabled planning and access to resources.
State Health stakeholders offered to work on the bill’s data-collection and reporting, noting potential technical options using widely adopted electronic health records to collate results. The committee adopted the developmental-council amendments and technical non-substantive fixes, and set an effective date in committee comments. The chair said requiring the assessment inside the statutory definition of the annual wellness exam might trigger a sunrise (regulatory) analysis and preferred continuing with the current pilot approach.
