Bloomberg BNA: Senators Urge CMS to Keep Six Protected Classes in Drug Benefit

An article in Bloomberg BNA highlights a recent letter from Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Servcies to maintain the current "six protected classes" policy requring Part D plans to provide the full range of treatment options to especially vulnerable patients with certain medical conditions. “Despite Part D’s success and the effectiveness of the six protected classes policy, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) report released earlier this month included a recommendation to make changes to this popular policy,” Grassley and Brown wrote to acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt in a June 30 letter. The bipartisan letter was in response to Part D recommendations in MedPAC's June report to Congress that would permit drug plans to remove antidepressants and immunosuppressants for transplant rejection from protected classes requirements.

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The article in its entirety can be read here.