Alzheimer’s Brain Scan Not Sure to Help, Medicare Panel Says
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Advanced brain scans to detect signs of Alzheimer’s disease may be denied coverage by Medicare after a U.S. advisory panel said it isn’t confident the tests will improve the health of people in the program.
The panel voted today at a meeting in Baltimore that it had low to intermediate confidence in improved health outcomes from PET scans meant to show telltale plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been weighing whether to begin paying for the scans, which use Eli Lilly & Co.’s drug Amyvid, or florbetapir, and can cost as much as $3,000 each.