Updates matching "Access to Affordable Cancer Drugs"

Congress is poised to pass a funding bill this week that includes a $2.6 billion increase for medical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The measure, agreed upon by both House and Senate conference committee members, also provides $296 million increase for the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

The U.S. House will vote today on a bill intended to bring down patient prescription drug costs. Several of the bill’s provisions are important to cancer care, including establishing an annual cap on Medicare enrollees’ out-of-pocket expenses, allowing some Medicare beneficiaries to spread out high-cost prescription cost-sharing over the course of the year, and expanding Medicare eligibility for low-income subsidies.

House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), introduced legislation intended to bring down patient drug costs.

Today the Senate Finance Committee is marking up the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA) of 2019, which includes a provision to cap Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket prescription drug costs in Medicare Part D, among several other proposed changes intended to bring down patient costs.

Today the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will mark-up a series of bills aimed at reducing patient out-of-pocket costs and preserving access to health care. Specifically, the committee will consider a measure that would exempt patients from having to pay surprise medical bills in most circumstances.

Today the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will markup legislation aimed at helping reduce patients’ out-of-pocket health care costs and improving public health. The Lower Health Care Costs Act would exempt patients from having to pay surprise medical bills in most circumstances.

Today the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its final rule for Medicare Part D which does not include the full range of proposed changes to drugs in the ‘six protected classes’ of cancer, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, mental illness and organ transplants.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) launched an ad campaign this week highlighting deep concerns from cancer patients and survivors over the dangerous impact that proposed changes to Medicare Part D’s six protected classes could have on their access to critical drug therapies.

A new nationwide survey of cancer patients, caregivers and doctors details the negative effects insurance utilization management policies in private insurance have had on patient care and what those policies could mean should proposed changes to Medicare’s Part D’s “six protected classes” prescription drug coverage policy go into effect.