Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
You know about all of the issues with breakthrough Alzheimer's drugs. Now, Reps. Nanette Diaz Barragán and David Joyce have introduced a bill aimed at expanding access to new Alzheimer’s therapies.
Why it matters: It's going to come back in the next Congress — and it's designed to put pressure on CMS to revisit its decision to limit coverage of Alzheimer's drugs.
- Our Vitals colleagues filled you in this week on the effects and risks of lecanemab, the latest monoclonal antibody meant to slow Alzheimer’s progression.
The details: The bipartisan bill would prevent CMS from making limited coverage determinations for entire classes of breakthrough drugs.
- The bill would also create a timeline for CMS to reconsider decisions to cover drugs only within clinical trials.
What’s next: Barragán, a Democrat, told Maya that she plans to reintroduce the bill early in the next Congress.
- “We wanted to introduce it now to set the agenda,” she said. “We're hoping that this will be one of those efforts that Republicans in the majority will continue to pursue.”
- Barragán and Rep. Vern Buchanan, who’s in the running for Ways & Means chair, introduced a similar but narrower bill called the MERIT Act earlier this year. Barragán is the only Democrat signed on to that bill, according to Congress.gov.
One personal thing: Barragán’s mother has Alzheimer’s, and the congresswoman said she moved in with her mom in January.
- “If there's some prospect of [a drug] working, why don't you make it available, leave it up to the doctor and the patient to make that decision?” she said.
