Physicians Collaborate on Medicare Policy for Parkinson’s Patients
Most all of us know someone living in a long-term care facility – a friend, a former neighbor, a family member. But not all may be aware of a recent debate about the use of a certain type of medication – antipsychotic medication – for seniors living in these facilities.
IfPA Paper Weighs Access to Hepatitis C Cures for Prisoners
Nearly one in five Americans with hepatitis C spends time behind bars each year, making the prison system an opportune environment to test and cure potential transmitters of the disease.
ICER Report Could Intensify Barriers for Heart Patients
Accessing innovative cardiovascular drugs may soon get harder.
Experts Envision “Precision” Benefit Design
Health plans often use different levels of cost sharing to drive patients toward one medication over another. But is this practice fair, ethical or effective in producing positive outcomes for patients? The answer, according to a recent National Pharmaceutical Council webinar panel, all depends.
Health Plan Coverage for Biosimilars Raises Questions
Do coverage decisions aim to offer patients more treatment options – or drive patients to non-identical drugs based on cost alone?
Cancer Moonshot: One Year Later
It’s been over a year since the launch of former vice president Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, designed to spur innovation and encourage collaboration on finding cures for cancer. So now, patients, physicians, researchers and policymakers are pausing to ask: Are we any closer?
Access Barriers Loom for Movement Disorder Patients
Long-awaited treatment for a movement disorder known as tardive dyskinesia could remain out of reach – unless an upcoming cost-effectiveness analysis acknowledges its value to patients.
Awareness Month Highlights Migraine’s Impact, Lack of Treatments
Some wore shades, others “showed purple.” But advocates across the board used June’s Migraine & Headache Awareness Month to draw attention to a condition whose patients face debilitating symptoms and far too few treatment options.
Cardiovascular Group Rallies for Better Access Policies
Health plans across the country are rejecting prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering PCSK9 inhibitors at an average rate of 43 percent. And now one patient advocacy group has a message: Enough is enough.
Massachusetts Pursues Better Access, Less Failure for Epilepsy Patients
In Massachusetts, some patients with epilepsy must try and fail on their health plans’ preferred prescription medications not once, not twice, but three times before getting the treatment their doctor originally prescribed.
