Policy Currents | The newsletter for policy people
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** Jan. 30, 2024
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Primary Care Providers May Be Key to Faster Alzheimer's Treatment
Effective disease-modifying therapies would be a breakthrough in slowing the progression of early-stage Alzheimer's disease. However, widespread availability of these treatments--two of which have already received FDA approval--would also create big challenges for the U.S. health care system, including increased caseloads for dementia specialists and long wait times for patients.
RAND researchers used modeling to better understand how these challenges could play out between 2025 and 2044. They found that the health care system's capacity to detect, diagnose, and treat early-stage Alzheimer's disease varies significantly from state to state. Additionally, average patient wait times may be three times longer in rural areas compared with urban areas. (The researchers also created an interactive tool that shows how different assumptions about patient uptake and the capacity of the health care system would affect the simulated results.)
Enabling primary care providers to diagnose and evaluate patients for Alzheimer's therapy eligibility could help deliver care faster. In fact, our data suggests that shifting toward a primary careled model would make the biggest impact on increasing the number of people treated for early-stage Alzheimer's disease.
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Preparing for AI in the Power Grid
Artificial intelligence is poised to transform how electricity is produced and consumed. It could lead to less waste, improved efficiency, and reduced risk of blackouts. Of course, there are also challenges and risks to consider, including the costs of updating the grid, cybersecurity risks, and ethical concerns. Given the speed of AI development, now is the time to integrate AI into federal energy and infrastructure policies, say RAND experts. The future of the electricity system may depend on it.
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The Focus on Laser Weapons Intensifies
Earlier this month, the United Kingdom conducted the first successful firing of its DragonFire laser weapon. Meanwhile, the United States has already begun to deploy early laser weapons on naval destroyers. And, amid its war with Hamas, Israel seeks to expedite development of its own laser to help shoot down rockets and drones. Why are countries racing to deploy direct energy weapons? RAND Europe's James Black explains the hype about these technologies and details their potential battlefield impacts.
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** RAND Recommends
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- RAND's Jason Ward spoke on Marketplace about society's changing relationship with home ownership and how that might affect attitudes toward policies that encourage housing growth.
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- Starting before Taiwan's recent elections, China has been sending batches of spy balloons into the island's airspace. In The Hill, RAND's Kristen Gunness said that, while Beijing's actions are "a big deal," they are unlikely to provoke conflict or crisis.
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- The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists highlighted findings from a recent RAND study: Our red-team exercise revealed that the current generation of large language models do not meaningfully increase the risk of a biological weapons attack.
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**Events
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Women, Peace, and Security in Action: Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security
Wednesday, January 31, 2024 (Washington, D.C., and Online)
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Reforming DoD's Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution Process for a Competitive Future
Thursday, February 8, 2024 (Online)
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America's Opioid Problems: How Additional Approaches Can Stem the Tide
Wednesday, February 28, 2024 (Online)
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