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Medicare D-lemmas
Rheumatologists and patients report mixed experiences with the new prescription drug benefit
Rheumatologists Concerned High Healthcare Costs May Encourage Patients to Forgo, Delay Treatment
While members of Congress debate healthcare legislation, rheumatologists say many of their patients struggle to afford everything from generic drugs to insurance copayments for physical therapy. “It’s a mess. The cost of prescriptions and the rationale for those rising costs in the U.S. right now—it’s just a mess,” says James R. O’Dell, MD, Stokes-Shackleford Professor of…
Medicare Changes Could Have Some Patients Paying More for Drugs
(Reuters Health)—A proposed shift in Medicare coverage for medicines administered by doctors may help reduce total drug spending, but a new study suggests it may also lead to higher out-of-pocket costs for some patients. Right now, drugs given by infusion or injection in outpatient settings are covered by Medicare Part B, which is part of…
A Primer on Copay Accumulator Programs
The growing use of copay accumulator programs, which restrict the application of patient assistance funds toward cost-sharing requirements, hurts patient access to life-changing treatments. This was one topic discussed during the ACR’s Advocacy Leadership Conference in D.C. this May.