CMS coverage policy is detrimental to Alzheimer ’s patients

This week marks a somber anniversary for patients with Alzheimer ’s. Last year, the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a national coverage determination (NCD) that, for the first time ever, uses a coverage with evidence development (CED) policy that forces Medicare patients into highly restrictive research studies to simply gain access to new Alzheimer ’s medicines that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). PhRMA has consistently raised the alarm about the discriminatory nature of this policy,urging CMS to withdraw its proposal in February of last year. Unfortunately, CMS instead finalized its policy with only minor changes and has since left Medicare patients with effectively no access to these medicines.
Source: The Catalyst - Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Tags: Alzheimer's Medicare Part B Source Type: news