How ICER’s Missteps Leave Access in Doubt For Atopic Dermatitis Patients
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review finds new treatments for atopic dermatitis to be cost effective – justifying health plan coverage for the medications. But methodological missteps invite questions about how secure patients’ access to the treatments will be.
Why ICER’s Model Doesn’t Work for Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatments
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has issued a draft report concluding that targeted immune modulators, such as biologic treatments, for rheumatoid arthritis are too expensive. The conclusion could embolden health plans to limit patient access.
But does ICER’s model accurately reflect the experiences of the 1.5 million Americans with rheumatoid arthritis?
Cost-Motivated Treatment Changes: Implications for Non-Medical Switching
What happens when patients’ medications are switched for financial reasons instead of medical reasons? Does it affect their health? Their course of care? The overall cost of treating their condition? The answers to these questions will impact patients and health policy alike. In the face of rising health care costs, some commercial health plans are […]
Feedback on ICER’s Psoriasis Draft Evidence Report
As ICER’s draft report acknowledges, plaque psoriasis is a common disease that can impact patients’ quality of life and daily functioning. With no cure available, patients have historically managed the condition with therapies such as methotrexate. Newer targeted and biologic therapies, however, can improve the duration and level of symptom relief that patients can achieve. […]
Cost-Motivated Treatment Changes in Medicare Part B: Implications for Non-Medical Switching
Under prevailing benefit designs in both public and private health insurance systems, patients may find that pivotal decisions about their health care hinge on financial, not medical, factors. In some cases, cost-sharing burdens or changes in patients’ financial situations may lead patients and their health care providers to select or switch treatment options because they […]
Feedback on ICER’s Value Framework
In light of the ICER value framework’s impact on health care, patients and physicians across the United States, we offer the following 12 suggestions for the updated framework to be implemented in 2017. These suggestions focus primarily on two areas for which ICER requested feedback: 1) Integration of patient and clinician perspectives on the value of interventions, and 2) Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios and thresholds.
