S. 1799 — A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for certain cognitive impairment detection in the Medicare annual wellness visit and initial preventative physical examination.

This section states congressional findings on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, including estimates that 6.9 million Americans currently live with the disease (rising to 13.8 million by 2060), higher prevalence among older Black (2x) and Latino (1.5x) Americans than White Americans and among women (nearly 2/3 of cases), status as the fifth-leading cause of death for those 65 and older with a 140% increase in reported deaths from 2000 to 2021, potential to prevent or delay up to 40% of cases by addressing modifiable risk factors, benefits of early diagnosis, caregiver health and economic burdens (11.5 million caregivers providing $347 billion in unpaid care in 2023), and projected costs of $360 billion in 2024 (rising to $1.1 trillion by 2050).

This section requires the Medicare annual wellness visit to include detection of cognitive impairment using one of the cognitive impairment detection tools identified by the National Institute on Aging as meeting its criteria for primary care settings, with documentation of the tool used and results in the beneficiary's medical record. It also requires the same cognitive impairment detection in the initial preventive physical examination (i.e., "Welcome to Medicare" visit). The requirements apply to annual wellness visits and initial preventive physical examinations furnished on or after January 1, 2026.