Alliance Applauds Medicare Decision to End Restrictions on Access to Alzheimer’s Diagnostics
Published October 13, 2023
Today, the Alliance is grateful for a finalized decision from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to end coverage restrictions for Beta Amyloid Positron Emission Tomography (Aβ PET) scan use for patients with dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases. Alliance President and CEO Sue Peschin, MHS, issued the following statement in response to today’s announcement:
“This morning, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a decision to end coverage restrictions for beta amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) scan use for patients with dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
For Americans living with Alzheimer’s and their families, today’s decision is welcome news. Previously, CMS covered just one beta amyloid PET scan per beneficiary per lifetime.
That limitation will no longer impede Medicare beneficiaries’ ability to access care. PET scans are critical for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, as well as for monitoring patients who are being treated with new FDA-approved disease modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s.
The Alliance applauds CMS’s announcement to end the decade-long restriction on access to beta amyloid PET scans. These scans are essential, as approximately 36 percent of patients clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and 61 percent of patients with mild cognitive impairment were found to be incorrectly diagnosed after receiving a beta amyloid PET scan. Broad and unrestricted coverage for beta amyloid PET scans will ensure that these patients get the most appropriate care for their condition.”
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The Alliance has been a champion for ending the NCD with CED for Aβ PET. In December 2022, the Alliance and 52 additional organizations shared a letter with President Biden urging him to direct the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to reopen the Aβ PET NCD for a full reconsideration that evaluates late-breaking data on new therapeutics. In July 2022, the Alliance led 19 other organizations in asking Medicare to end restrictions to Alzheimer’s disease diagnostics, including Aβ PET scans.
If you are a member of the media and want to learn more or interview Alliance staff on this issue, email Katie Riley, Vice President of Communications, at [email protected].