We must take steps to right this wrong, especially as millions of Americans struggle to cope amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Right now, the Biden administration has two opportunities to make sure patients don’t lose their needed medicines. The first involves reversing Trump’s last-minute Medicare policy change. The second requires implementing an important Trump-era measure that has been delayed.
Medicare provides health insurance to some 63 million Americans who are older or disabled. The Trump administration’s proposal affects Medicare Part D, which allows private insurance companies to sell prescription drug plans to beneficiaries. The government helps subsidize these plans and imposes regulations to protect patients. Chief among these safeguards is the “six protected classes” provision. It requires prescription plans to cover “all or substantially all” drugs in six categories: antidepressants, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, antineoplastics, antiretrovirals and immunosuppressants. These medicines treat a huge range of conditions, from depression to cancer. One reason the six classes were originally protected is that different people tend to react differently to drugs in these categories. That makes finding the right medication a trial-and-error process. A popular antidepressant might curb symptoms for more than half of patients, while having no impact on others, or worse, causing serious side effects. The six protected classes provision ensures that patients aren’t restricted in their treatment options, and can find the medication best suited to their needs. But Trump’s proposal would upend this by allowing insurers to cover only one drug in each class. Many patients will be left with an impossible choice: Pay high out-of-pocket costs for the medicine they know and trust, or resort to something less effective — or even harmful — covered by their plan. For the sake of Americans living with mental health challenges — many of whom have already seen their health and bank accounts greatly impacted by the pandemic — the new administration should reverse Trump’s Part D payment rule. At the same time, the Biden White House can help patients struggling with medical costs by pushing through a Trump policy change that has been held up. In an effort to control drug prices, the previous administration took aim at the health industry middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. Insurance companies hire these middlemen to manage their plans and negotiate prices with drug manufacturers. The PBMs secure rebates and discounts, in exchange for making sure a drug is placed on an insurance plan’s list of covered medicines. Unfortunately, these rebates don’t help those in immediate need. The PBMs and the insurers keep some of the savings for themselves, and pass the rest along via lower monthly premiums — while the sickest patients are left paying the same out-of-pocket cost they would have for a full-price drug. The former administration finalized a rule requiring the middlemen to pass savings from manufacturer rebates on to patients in the form of lower co-pays and co-insurance. This would ensure that the discounts actually flow to the sickest patients who are filling the most prescriptions. The current administration has allowed implementation to be delayed until 2023. President Biden seems serious about improving health care access for vulnerable Americans. By reinstating safeguards for the six protected drug classes, and making sure rebate savings are passed on to patients, he can bring relief to millions. Patrick J. Kennedy, a former Democratic U.S. representative, was lead author of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. He served on the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis and is author of the New York Times bestseller “A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction.”
6 Comments
Jred Hatty
7/24/2022 07:13:53 pm
I TESTED POSITIVE FOR HSV-2 A FEW MONTHS AGO.
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mary jane
4/11/2023 01:10:35 am
Good day everyone, l don’t normally post on social media, this is a great testimony l must share. Please read and share to others. I was diagnosed with herpes. for over 6 years and I have been taking ARV drugs but i wasn't really satisfied because I needed to get this virus out from my system completely. A friend of mine told me about a man called Dr UMA and showed me testimonies on how people talks about him. So l contact him and the good news is that i was totally cured from my herpes immediately i finished taking the herbal medicine been sent to me by dr UMA. Till this very moment i'm still negative to the virus, so I'm urging you to contact him for help and get cured if you are infected also with any disease or you have any health issues, you can get to him through hisEmail: dr.umaherbalcenter@gmail.com WhatsApp/Call: +2347035619585.
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smith lusi
4/17/2023 10:09:04 pm
I thought the physicians said there is no cure for HSV 2!!! I am telling you today that DR.UMA cured HSV 2 with his herbal medicine and his cure is forever, it is never reversible, I have been suffering from this deadly disease called HSV 2 for more than 2years and lost all hope because my doctor says there is no cure for HSV 2. Brethren I saw a testimony on the internet on how DR.UMA cured HSV, Hepatitis etc with his herbal medication and an email and whatsapp to contact him was also displayed, I thought this was joke but I decided to contact him and he replied telling me not to worry that my problem is over . DR.UMA sent me a herbal medication to drink for one month but after only 2weeks I felt strange and I went to my doctor and he confirmed me negative. He can help you too. Contact him via email...dr.umaherbalcenter@gmail.com WhatsApp +2347035619585. He is capable of curing FIBROID, HERPES, HPV, HSV1&2, HEPATITIS A B C, and DIABETES.
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Moma garage
8/14/2023 11:23:04 pm
God bless Dr Akhigbe for his marvelous work in my life, I was diagnosed of Herpes Virus since over a month now and I was taking my medications, I wasn't satisfied i needed to get the Herpes virus out of my system, I searched about some possible cure for Herpes i saw a comment about Dr Akhigbe, how he cured Herpes with his herbal medicine, I contacted him and he guided me. I asked for solutions, he started the remedy for my health, he sent me the medicine through UPS SPEED POST. I took the medicine as prescribed by him and 7 days later i was cured from Herpes ,thank you for anyone that may need the medication you can contact him for your urgent cure
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David Buch
9/22/2023 12:24:44 am
Weird messages here in the comment section. davidbuch@likudo-dachdecker.de
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