Twenty-six state attorneys general are asking Medicare to cover monoclonal antibody treatments for Alzheimer's disease.
In a letter sent to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the bipartisan group of attorneys general urged the agencies to "ensure all patients have access to FDA-approved treatments."
Medicare currently covers Aduhelm and Leqembi, two treatments believed to reduce amyloid plaques in the brain, in clinical trials only.
Eli Lilly said it expects CMS will reverse its policy on the new Alzheimer's treatments. Trial results for Eli Lilly's donanemab, a amyloid-plaque-targeting drug, are expected by the end of June.
In their letter, the attorneys general said Medicare should ensure equal access to the new treatments, not just for patients able to enroll in clinical trials.
"Given how quickly Alzheimer's can progress, ensuring that patients across the United States have fair access to potential life-changing treatment is extremely important," the AGs said. "Otherwise, only patients wealthy enough to pay for the treatment entirely out-of-pocket, or those who happen to live someplace with an ongoing clinical trial, will have access to these new therapies."