Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently announced that “it is regulatory malpractice that we don’t have early [Alzheimer’s] screening already,” saying “we now know that early treatment of Alzheimer’s can postpone its onset.”

Kennedy echoes a sentiment that millions of Americans already feel: the healthcare system should be more concerned with prevention and early intervention than late-stage crisis care. His statement should serve as a wake-up call for doctors, policymakers and anyone concerned for the country’s long-term fiscal health.

More than 7 million Americans currently have Alzheimer’s disease, a number expected to nearly double by 2060 — a medical crisis spiraling into a fiscal disaster. Neither Medicare nor Medicaid are equipped to absorb a massive jump in costs. The Medicare hospital insurance fund is set to run out of reserves in 2033.

Exacerbating the crisis is that, for decades, Alzheimer’s policy has been built around costly late-stage crisis care instead of early diagnosis and action, which can extend healthy lives and prevent or postpone costly long-term care. The national average cost for a semi-private........

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