CMS Slams the Door on Alzheimer’s Patients – Again

Vradenburg: “Make no mistake, people will continue to suffer at the hands of CMS.”

Washington, D.C. (February 22, 2023) – UsAgainstAlzheimer’s chair and co-founder George Vradenburg issued the following statement in response to the refusal by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider Medicare coverage for leqembi and other drugs in its class based on their own merits:

“The CMS refusal to reconsider its decision not to cover Alzheimer’s drugs – which it made without seeing any data on the new drug – will have very dire consequences for people living with Alzheimer’s. An estimated 2,000 people a day advance from the early stage of the disease targeted by this new drug to the moderate stage of the disease beyond this drug’s reach.

“CMS’ arguments are simply empty and erroneous rhetoric. The agency says it is committed to getting people ‘timely access’ to Alzheimer’s treatments, but it just reiterated a decision to deny Medicare coverage of a promising new drug that demonstrably slows the progression of Alzheimer’s. CMS said questions posed in the original Coverage with Evidence Development (CED) still need to be answered but, as the American Academy of Neurology stated in a letter to CMS on February 2, those questions have already been answered in a massive, successful clinical trial and a peer-reviewed publication reviewing the results of that trial. In its statement CMS also said it would ‘expeditiously review’ new data as it becomes available, but the agency has had that data for four months. This decision by CMS is unconscionable and unjustifiable. Make no mistake, people will continue to suffer at the hands of CMS.”

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About UsAgainstAlzheimer’s

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s is engaged in a relentless pursuit to end Alzheimer’s, the sixth leading killer in America. Our work centers on prevention, early detection and diagnosis, and access to treatments – all regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity. To achieve our mission, we give voice to patients and caregivers while partnering with government, scientists, the private sector, and allied organizations -- the people who put the “Us” in UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.