The Partnership to Improve Patient Care issued the following statement in response to President Trump's State of the Union Address.
Yesterday, over 100 organizations representing patients, people with disabilities, chronic conditions, rare diseases, older adults and caregivers sent a letter to the administration urging them not to pursue so-called Most Favored Nation policies that would link the prices of drugs in the U.S. to those in other countries. We voiced concern that such policies would “lead to a health system devaluing disability that is in direct conflict with American civil rights and disability policy by importing policies that rely on the premise that people with disabilities and older adults are less valuable and less worth treating than ‘healthy’ people.” By referencing decisions in other countries, Most Favored Nation policies would adopt standards used by other countries to ration treatment by assigning a numeric value to the lives of individual patients. This is the wrong approach for America. We urge policymakers - whether in the administration or Congress — to reject proposals that import cost-effectiveness metrics like the quality-adjusted life year from Europe and elsewhere.
PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho stated, “Both sides of the aisle have long opposed the use of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) to value health care. No one is arguing with the need to address affordability. But Most Favored Nation only sounds good because its supporters fail to explain to Americans how people with disabilities and chronic conditions that most need relief are devalued and therefore denied or delayed access to care in the foreign countries being modeled.”
We look forward to working with Congress and the administration on policies that promote equal access to affordable health care for all Americans.
PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho stated, “Both sides of the aisle have long opposed the use of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) to value health care. No one is arguing with the need to address affordability. But Most Favored Nation only sounds good because its supporters fail to explain to Americans how people with disabilities and chronic conditions that most need relief are devalued and therefore denied or delayed access to care in the foreign countries being modeled.”
We look forward to working with Congress and the administration on policies that promote equal access to affordable health care for all Americans.
