The Alliance, in partnership with the Caregiver Action Network, hosted a panel discussion for Capitol Hill staff in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC on July 11.
The briefing was held on the heels of landmark news released on July 7 when the FDA announced the first-ever traditional approval of a treatment proven to slow cognitive decline in patients with early stages of Alzheimer’s. The treatment, leqembi, targets amyloid in people with early Alzheimer’s, and was initially granted Accelerated Approval by the FDA in January after published data showed the therapy slowed progression of early Alzheimer’s by 27 percent over an 18-month trial.
Speakers included:
• Sue Peschin, President & CEO of the Alliance for Aging Research
• Mary Perkins, caregiver to her husband Wes Perkins, who is living with Alzheimer’s
• Deanna Darlington, Founder of Links2Equity
• Candace DeMatteis, Policy Director for the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD)
• Cate Gormley, Vice President of Lake Research Partners
• Neil Newhouse, Partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies
Our recent polling indicates that huge majorities want the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to cover these treatments. Nearly nine in 10 voters favor requiring Medicare to cover the cost of FDA-approved drugs that can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a May poll conducted by Lake Research Partners and Public Opinion Strategies and commissioned by the Alliance, the LEAD Coalition, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, and the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation. A majority said that Congress or President Biden should step in and require Medicare to cover these medicines if CMS fails to do so.
Learn more at AgingResearch.org.
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