Seventy-nine percent of voters — including 78% of independents — support better access to coverage for Alzheimer’s detection and treatment, according to a poll released in May. Eighty-nine percent say coverage restrictions from Medicare and private insurers are blocking patients from getting the drugs that their doctors want to slow the disease.
An equal number worry that doctors avoid Alzheimer’s tests and treatments because insurers might not cover them. They are right to worry.
One million Americans qualify for FDA-approved treatments that can slow Alzheimer’s progression. Fewer than 15,000 have received them.
