Alzheimer’s disease is a national crisis. While there is currently no cure for the fatal disease that affects over 6.7 million Americans, treatments are being discovered to change the disease progression and offer more time to families.
In June 2021, Lecanemab received accelerated approval as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This was the first therapy that actually targeted one of the disease hallmarks instead of simply treating the symptoms, demonstrating that removing beta-amyloid from the brain reduces cognitive and functional decline in people living with early-stage Alzheimer’s.
Since then, additional anti-amyloid treatments have shown positive results to slow down the disease progression. Lecanemab received accelerated FDA approval in January this year, and last month.
While these treatments have shown a glimmer of hope for the future of Alzheimer’s, that hope was severely diminished by an unfortunate reality: lack of access.
In April 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an unprecedented decision to block Medicare coverage of all FDA-approved treatments that target amyloid for Alzheimer’s disease, severely limiting access by forcing people to join a clinical trial or pay out-of-pocket at the high cost of over $26,000-$28,000 per year.
Fourteen months later, after continuous efforts from the Alzheimer’s Association and advocates nationwide to change this decision, CMS announced on June 1, 2023 that it will cover Alzheimer’s treatments that receive traditional FDA-approval if physicians register and enter data in a registry.
“While registries are important, posing this condition of coverage on people living with early-stage Alzheimer’s still creates an additional and unnecessary barrier,” said Meg Barron, Alzheimer’s Association Region 3 Leader and Executive Director of the California Southland Chapter. “These families don’t have time to wait for a registry or search for a doctor who participates in one.”
Setting this requirement for registries is yet another unprecedented decision made by CMS towards this class of FDA-approved drugs.
Each day, the Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 2,000 people living with early-stage Alzheimer’s progress beyond the point where current treatments can help them.
On June 20, Alzheimer’s advocates from Ventura County and Southern California met in Los Angeles to rally at the Wilshire Federal Building, urging CMS to change its policy and expand access to FDA-approved Alzheimer’s treatments.
To get involved as an advocate or learn more about Alzheimer’s treatments and free support services, visit the Alzheimer’s Association online at alz.org/cacentral. Their Ventura office is located at 2580 E Main Street #201, and their 24/7 Helpline is 800.272.3900 for around-the-clock support and information in English and Spanish.
