PRN Issues
Mass. lawmakers consider tighter rules on abusive step therapy insurance practice
Massachusetts lawmakers are considering reforms to step therapy, an insurance practice that forces patients to fail first to boost insurance profits.
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Bipartisan bill to eliminate co-pays, expand patient access to biosimilars
HR 4597, Acting to Cancel Copays and Ensure Substantial Savings for Biosimilars ACCESS Act, would eliminate patient copays and expand access to biosimilars.
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HR 3 disappoints patients desperate for out-of-pocket relief
Patients are disappointed by HR 3 -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s long-awaited government price negotiation plan, which fails to address sky-high out of pocket health care costs.
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Patients oppose Trump plan to end medical exemption from deportation
More than 100 patient organizations are speaking out and expressing concern with the Trump administration’s plan to end a medical deferred action program, which allows immigrants to delay deportation proceedings...
Study: Patient out-of-pocket costs up 4x in 12 years
Millions of patients with health insurance are being hit with higher out-of-pocket costs. One study finds health care deductibles are up 4x since 2006.
...The Need for Patient Assistance and Access Programs
Many state, non-profit and corporate prescription assistance and access programs (PAPs) help patients obtain free or nearly free medicines if they qualify. Serving as a safety net for...
Reforming the 340B Program
Named for section 340B of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, Congress enacted the 340B Drug Pricing Program so uninsured and indigent populations treated at community health...
ICER Value Framework
WHAT IS ICER?
An organization most patients never heard of is now hard at work determining whether recently approved drugs for serious and often life-threatening diseases...
Establishing an Out-of-Pocket Cap to Protect Medicare Part D Patients
The Issue
Since 2003, the Medicare Part D drug benefit has provided prescription drug coverage to more than 44 million Americans, both seniors and those with...
Taking a Stand: Safety Concerns with Drug Importation
The Issue
To reduce patients’ spending on prescription drugs, both Congress and a number of states are considering legislation that would allow Americans to purchase supposedly...
It’s Time to Reform Prior Authorization Requirements
Although it is now possible to detect diseases earlier and treat them more effectively, the reality is many Americans are not getting timely access to the new technologies...
Telling the Truth About Copay Accumulators
In 2018, many insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) introduced copay accumulator programs to the American public, using such pleasant sounding names as “Out of Pocket Protection” and...