Eli Lilly, neurologist urge Michigan action on Alzheimer’s diagnosis, blood biomarker coverage and education

Laura Cohen, a vice president with Eli Lilly and Company, and Dr. Kara Leahy, director of cognitive disorders at Memorial Healthcare in Owosso, presented to the House Health Policy Committee on Alzheimer’s disease diagnostics, new treatments and state policy options to expand timely care.

Cohen framed the changes in the field: current U.S. estimates put about 6.7 million people living with Alzheimer’s disease, she said, and that number is expected to rise to about 14 million by 2050. Cohen also cited state figures, saying roughly 200,000 Michiganders are living with Alzheimer’s and that direct care costs for the state total about $1.7 billion annually; unpaid family caregiving contributes at least another $17 billion a year in lost labor and informal care, she said.

Dr. Leahy told committee members that clinical practice has shifted markedly in the past three years: “We went from a disease that is a terminal illness with little to no treatments, to now, an illness…