Partnership for Part D Access - Newsroom

Patient Advocates Applaud Biden Administration for Maintaining Medicare's Six Protected Classes Policy

3/16/2021

Contact: Shea McCarthy
smccarthy@thornrun.com
(202) 285-3866

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2021

Washington D.C. — The Partnership for Part D Access, a broad-based coalition of health care stakeholders including diverse patient advocacy organizations that represent patients who benefit from treatments covered under each of Medicare’s “six protected classes,” commended the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for rejecting a proposal that would have substantially weakened Medicare’s six protected classes policy.

Op-ed: In Throes of Pandemic, Hoosiers in Assisted Living May Face This New Challenge

3/8/2021

This post originally appeared in the Indianapolis Star on March 4, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely challenging for Indiana’s senior population. Having overseen our state’s assisted living and independent living facilities throughout the pandemic, we find the situation that thousands of senior Hoosiers are facing is heartbreaking and frightening.

Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy: Trump, Biden Medicare Moves Need Fixing

3/8/2021

This post originally appeared in The Boston Herald on March 4, 2021.

On Donald Trump’s last full day in office, his administration announced a policy change that would make it easier for insurers to deny medicine to vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries. Those most affected will include people with mental health disorders, a group that already faces major roadblocks — including stigma and discrimination — when pursuing treatment.

Patient Groups Urge Becerra to Maintain Medicare’s Protected Class Benefit

3/1/2021

This post originally appeared in the Washington Post's "Health 202" newsletter on February 26. 2021.

More than 100 patient advocacy organizations sent a letter to Biden’s health and human services secretary nominee, Xavier Becerra, urging him to protect a Medicare policy that ensures coverage of a wide range of drugs used to treat complex medical conditions

Advocacy Groups Urge Becerra Reject Trump's Policy Eliminating Protected Classes

3/1/2021

This post originally appeared in CQ Healthbeat on February 26, 2021.

Patient advocacy groups are pushing Biden's nominee to lead Health and Human Services to reject a last-minute Trump administration policy demonstration that weakened two pillars of Medicare Part D’s patient protections. One change allows plans to skirt Medicare's six protected classes, and the other change eliminates the requirement that insurers cover at least two drugs in all classes.

Patient Groups Warn Against Weakening Protected Classes Drugs

3/1/2021

This post originally appeared in Inside Health Policy on February 26. 2021

Nearly 140 patient groups are urging the Biden administration to block an 11th-hour Trump-era policy change to let drug plans ignore Medicare protections of some of the most vulnerable patients, and the head of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute warned of litigation if the administration doesn’t block the policy.

Over 130 Patient Groups Urge Secretary-designee Becerra to Maintain Key Medicare Protection for Patients

2/25/2021

Partnership releases study showing that the Six Protected Classes policy needs strengthening, not elimination

Multi-Group Letter Sent to Becerra

The Partnership for Part D Access sent a letter today cosigned by 138 individual patient advocacy organizations to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary-designee the Honorable Xavier Becerra, highlighting the importance of Medicare’s six protected classes policy and urging the Biden administration to reject a late Trump administration proposal to eliminate the benefit.

Howard Dean: Biden Must Restore Seniors' Access to Essential Medicines

2/25/2021

This post originally appeared in Newsweek on February 24, 2021

In its final hours, the Trump administration fired a parting shot at our nation's most vulnerable patients. On January 19, Medicare officials announced a new payment model that could wreak havoc on the chronically ill. The proposed model—technically put forward by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation—affects Medicare's Part D prescription drug benefit, which relies on private insurers to administer seniors' drug coverage.

Trump's Final Blow to Patients with HIV

2/23/2021

This post originally appeared in the Washington Blade on February 19, 2021

The day before Donald Trump left the White House, his administration dealt one final, brutal blow to some of America’s most vulnerable patients. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a policy that, if implemented, will put numerous lifesaving drugs off-limits to Medicare recipients.

Proposed Changes to Medicare Would Weaken Access to Mental Health Drugs

2/23/2021

This post originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch on February 29, 2021.

During the early days of mental health treatment, asylums often restrained people who had mental illnesses with iron chains and shackles. As better understanding and treatments developed, this cruel practice finally stopped.