University of Kansas researchers urge state funding to scale faster Alzheimer’s diagnosis and care

Dr. Jeffrey Burns, co‑director of the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, told the House Committee on Health and Human Services that recent advances — including FDA‑cleared blood biomarkers and two newly approved therapies — create an opportunity to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease far earlier and treat patients more effectively.

Burns said diagnosis in Kansas currently takes an average of about 3½ years, a delay he described as avoidable. "We can package [an assessment] up in a two‑hour visit," Burns told the committee, adding that primary care clinicians can perform the standardized testing needed to identify people who would benefit from treatment and specialist consultation.

The doctor described his center’s cognitive care network of more than 120 primary‑care clinicians and the LEAP (Lifestyle Empowerment for Alzheimer’s Prevention) program, and asked legislators for "sustainable, reliable state funding" to expand diagnostic and care infrastructure statewide. He said the center’s operating budget is about $16 million, with roughly 90% devoted to research and about 3% supporting the cognitive care network, most of which has come from philanthropy.

Burns cited prevalence and cost figures to underscore the need for action: an estimated 55,000–60,000 Kansans live with Alzheimer’s disease (about 1 in 9 people 65 and older and roughly 1 in 3 people 85 and older), and he said Medicaid costs for Alzheimer’s care in Kansas are estimated at $589,000,000 largely driven by nursing‑home expenses.

On potential savings, Burns told lawmakers that modeling suggests presymptomatic treatment and prevention strategies could, under some assumptions, reduce Medicaid costs substantially; he described a national hypothetical that projected reductions "up to 35%" in certain scenarios but emphasized that such outcomes depend on treatment effectiveness and access.

Committee members pressed Burns on implementation. Representative Bueller asked what barriers beyond money the state should expect; Burns cited relationships with primary‑care practices, education and workflow integration, and said aligning reimbursement is important to make routine cognitive testing sustainable.

Representative Lehi asked whether testing would require a baseline; Burns said clinicians would do brief cognitive screening and use blood biomarkers when measurable impairment is suspected. Burns also warned that widescale screening of asymptomatic younger adults is not yet recommended because clinical benefit for those groups has not been established.

Burns described the treatments as intravenous antibody therapies administered every two to four weeks that clear amyloid from the brain and "slow decline," and he said serious adverse events are uncommon but can occur (he cited a hemorrhage risk described as roughly 1 in 200 in the committee exchange).

The committee took no immediate funding action. A committee member said a legislative funding request is being developed and may be placed in a social‑services budget proposal, but details and whether support would be ongoing or one‑time remained "TBD." Burns left the committee with a request to remain engaged and to provide updates as the plan and any budget ask develop.

The presentation underscored two practical points for legislators weighing a funding request: new diagnostics and treatments change the calculus for early detection, and scaling access will require payment‑model changes and investments in primary‑care workflows rather than only recruiting specialists to underserved areas.