Post by rmarks1 on Feb 22, 2014 0:33:24 GMT -5
It isn't often that you see drug companies and patient advocates on the same side.
Bob
An alliance of drug companies and patient advocates, joined by Democrats and Republicans in Congress, is fiercely opposing an Obama administration proposal that would allow insurers to limit Medicare coverage for certain classes of drugs, including those used to treat depression and schizophrenia.
Opponents warn that the proposal, if enacted, could harm patients. Federal officials say it would lower costs and reduce overuse of the drugs.
The proposed rule, which would lift a requirement that insurers cover “all or substantially all” drugs in certain treatment areas, is just one of a series of changes to the drug program that are being opposed by the unlikely alliance. Even insurers and drug benefit managers, who have previously supported added limits on drug coverage, oppose the rule. They object to provisions including changes to so-called preferred pharmacy networks, where consumers are steered toward a limited network of pharmacies, and to reducing the number of plans that insurers can offer in any one region.
A House subcommittee plans to hold a hearing on the proposal next week, and the rule is open for public comment until March 7.
“We’ve been scratching our heads over this,” said John J. Castellani, the chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drug-industry trade group. Medicare Part D, he noted, is the rare government program that not only gets high marks from consumers but also has cost taxpayers billions of dollars less than originally expected. “Why is the administration trying to make such extensive changes to a program that isn’t broken?”
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/22/business/plan-to-alter-medicare-drug-coverage-draws-strong-opposition.html?hpw&rref=business&_r=0
Opponents warn that the proposal, if enacted, could harm patients. Federal officials say it would lower costs and reduce overuse of the drugs.
The proposed rule, which would lift a requirement that insurers cover “all or substantially all” drugs in certain treatment areas, is just one of a series of changes to the drug program that are being opposed by the unlikely alliance. Even insurers and drug benefit managers, who have previously supported added limits on drug coverage, oppose the rule. They object to provisions including changes to so-called preferred pharmacy networks, where consumers are steered toward a limited network of pharmacies, and to reducing the number of plans that insurers can offer in any one region.
A House subcommittee plans to hold a hearing on the proposal next week, and the rule is open for public comment until March 7.
“We’ve been scratching our heads over this,” said John J. Castellani, the chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drug-industry trade group. Medicare Part D, he noted, is the rare government program that not only gets high marks from consumers but also has cost taxpayers billions of dollars less than originally expected. “Why is the administration trying to make such extensive changes to a program that isn’t broken?”
www.nytimes.com/2014/02/22/business/plan-to-alter-medicare-drug-coverage-draws-strong-opposition.html?hpw&rref=business&_r=0
Bob