, Columnists
Medicare Must Study Unproven, Expensive Alzheimer’s Drug
Taxpayers and patients cannot afford to pay a high price for a treatment not known to be effective.
Make sure the new Alzheimer’s drug is worthwhile.
Photographer: Sebastien Bozon/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The cost of caring for America’s nearly 6 million Alzheimer’s disease patients is already $600 billion a year, factoring in the cost of uncompensated caregiving. Now, the Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug treatment that may or may not work but is set to cost $56,000 a year for the average patient — a charge that in most instances will fall to Medicare.
Medicare should not simply cover this treatment indiscriminately. Instead, it should evaluate whether paying for it stands to help its beneficiaries.