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MEDIA ADVISORY
July 24, 2020 |
Today, the Administration released its anticipated Executive Order related to Medicare. Among its provisions, it would allow for the government to reference prescription drug prices established internationally, regardless of the metrics used by those countries or implications for access to care in those countries, for drugs covered under Medicare Part B. The Partnership to Improve Patient Care and several other organizations expressed strong opposition to this concept when it was originally proposed in 2018.
PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho expressed his own concerns about the Executive Order, especially coming as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that protects people with disabilities from discrimination. He stated, “No one supports lower drug prices more than patients and people with disabilities. But issuing an Executive Order that lowers the cost of drugs for the government by importing discriminatory metrics like quality-adjusted life years, while doing little to help Medicare beneficiaries with their costs, seems not only pointless, but potentially dangerous. We are in the middle of a pandemic and Americans, especially seniors and people with disabilities, are already concerned about accessing the care they need. They do not need more roadblocks thrown in their way.”
Maria Town, President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities and a member of PIPC’s Steering Committee, stated, “As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is important to remember that the United States has consistently taken a stand against the use of metrics such as quality-adjusted life years (QALY) in our public health programs due to their implications for discrimination and restricted access to care for people with disabilities. We should be relying on the thoughtful recommendations from the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency, calling on the administration to rescind its proposed international price index and to refrain from pursuing means of reducing Medicare and Medicaid prescription drug costs by modeling US pricing after the pricing in other countries, which may heavily rely on QALYs and often deny people with disabilities access to needed care. As people with disabilities fight for their lives in this pandemic, it is a time to expand access to care. Not restrict it.”
Patricia Goldsmith, Chief Executive Officer of CancerCare and a PIPC member, stated, “Health outcomes for cancer patients are substantially worse in other countries because their health systems use standards that discriminate to value treatments. The result is restricted and delayed access to cancer treatment. Yet, the White House is proposing to import those standards to the United States in the middle of a pandemic.”
For additional information about the NCD report, please visit www.ncd.gov. PIPC resources are available at www.pipcpatients.org. Additionally, organizations supporting Value Our Health have resources available at www.valueourhealth.org.
Maria Town, President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities and a member of PIPC’s Steering Committee, stated, “As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is important to remember that the United States has consistently taken a stand against the use of metrics such as quality-adjusted life years (QALY) in our public health programs due to their implications for discrimination and restricted access to care for people with disabilities. We should be relying on the thoughtful recommendations from the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency, calling on the administration to rescind its proposed international price index and to refrain from pursuing means of reducing Medicare and Medicaid prescription drug costs by modeling US pricing after the pricing in other countries, which may heavily rely on QALYs and often deny people with disabilities access to needed care. As people with disabilities fight for their lives in this pandemic, it is a time to expand access to care. Not restrict it.”
Patricia Goldsmith, Chief Executive Officer of CancerCare and a PIPC member, stated, “Health outcomes for cancer patients are substantially worse in other countries because their health systems use standards that discriminate to value treatments. The result is restricted and delayed access to cancer treatment. Yet, the White House is proposing to import those standards to the United States in the middle of a pandemic.”
For additional information about the NCD report, please visit www.ncd.gov. PIPC resources are available at www.pipcpatients.org. Additionally, organizations supporting Value Our Health have resources available at www.valueourhealth.org.
