Drummond urges Medicare to cover Alzheimer's drug

Currently, the agency will only cover the treatment when it is administered through clinical trials or other studies.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - The Oklahoma attorney general is urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide coverage for a drug that delays the progression of Alzheimer's Disease.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond asked CMS to provide full and unrestricted Medicare coverage for FDA-approved Alzheimer's treatments.

Drummond says the move would be consistent with its decades-long practice of covering FDA-approved prescription drugs.

“The more than 6 million Americans who are living with Alzheimer’s deserve equal access to FDA-approved medications,” said Drummond. “The Biden administration should be fighting for these patients and their families. It is critical that we ensure these vulnerable patients can receive treatments that are recommended by their doctors.”

The treatment is FDA-approved monclonal antibodies directed against amyloid to help Alzheimer's patients.

Currently, the agency will only cover the treatment when it is administered through clinical trials or other studies.

“This decision creates a barrier to care for older Americans, especially individuals living in rural and underserved areas that are unlikely to be served by institutions administering clinical trials,” Drummond wrote in the letter.