Medicare's Alzheimer's announcement continues to create barriers

The coverage of medicine costs in the USA has come under further question, particularly related to Alzheimer’s disease treatments

Medicare doubles down on its decision to only cover a new class of Alzheimer’s drugs with participation in a registry, as per an announcement from the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) yesterday that continues to create a barrier for patients and undermines the Food and Drug Administration FDA’s accelerated approval process, says the Alzheimer’s Association commenting on the news.

The CMA statement notes that, if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants traditional approval, then Medicare will cover it in appropriate settings that also support the collection of real-world information to study the usefulness of these drugs for people with Medicare.