KEY POINTS
  • A group of 20 senators called on Medicare to take action now to offer seniors immediate access to Alzheimer's treatments such as Eisai's Leqembi.
  • The group included 18 Republicans and two Democrats, led by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V.
  • Public pressure has grown on Medicare to change its restrictive coverage policy, which keeps Leqembi out of reach for most people.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) speaks to reporters in the Senate Subway during a vote in the U.S. Capitol on September 08, 2022 in Washington, DC.

U.S. senators on Friday called for Medicare to offer broad coverage of Alzheimer's treatments approved by the Food and Drug Administration, warning that current restrictions cost patients precious time as their disease progresses.

"Given the progressive nature of this terminal disease, we encourage you to take steps now to ensure patients have immediate access to FDA-approved treatments if the patient and clinician decide it is right for the patient," the senators told Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure in a letter.