Kansas City, let Medicare know our families need help to fight Alzheimer’s disease | Opinion

My father was a history buff. But, if he were alive today, he would be very disturbed by the history that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is trying to make. For the first time, Medicare has refused to cover drugs that have been granted Food and Drug Administration approval. Medicare has always covered FDA-approved treatments for those living with other conditions such as cancer, heart disease and HIV/AIDS. For CMS to treat those with Alzheimer’s disease differently from those with other diseases is unprecedented and completely unacceptable.

Lecanemab, which is sold under the brand name Leqembi, is a monoclonal antibodies medication that targets aggregated forms of amyloid beta found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease to reduce its buildup. Although Lecanemab is not a cure (there currently is no cure for Alzheimer’s), it is the second approved treatment that addresses the underlying biology of Alzheimer’s and changes the course of the disease in a meaningful way for people in the early stages.

I lost my father to Alzheimer’s disease after an eight-year battle. What I would have given to be able to offer him a treatment like this so that he could have had more time being a father, a husband, a grandfather, an uncle, an active member in his church community and a friend to his veteran peers. He could have had more time to participate in daily life in a meaningful way and remain independent for a longer period, which was extremely important to him. Additionally, allowing him to be independent and able to make decisions for more time time would have decreased the overall financial impact that Alzheimer’s disease had on him and our loved ones.

This is certainly not just true for my father and our family, but for many of the 55,000 Kansans and 120,000 Missourians currently living with this progressive disease.

This CMS policy prevents people who could benefit from FDA-approved treatments from receiving them, even if it is prescribed by their doctors. According to estimates from the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 2,000 people transition every day to a more advanced stage of the disease where they’re no longer eligible for treatment.

I’m not alone in my disappointment in this decision. The Alzheimer’s Association continues to pressure CMS to reverse this barrier to accessing FDA-approved Alzheimer’s treatments, and there’s growing bipartisan support in Congress. I am encouraging people from across Kansas and Missouri to use their voices and let CMS know that they must reverse their decision. Each day matters when it comes to slowing the progression of this fatal disease.

That’s why I ask you to attend a rally in Ilus Davis Park at 1000 Locust St. in Kansas City on May 15 at 1 p.m. with my fellow advocates. Please join me in demanding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reverse its unprecedented and unjust decision.

Learn more about how you can join the fight to end Alzheimer’s by visiting alzimpact.org, or call the Alzheimer’s Association Heart of America Chapter at 913-831-3888 for details about the rally.

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