 A new article in Inside Health Policy highlights a letter from the Partnership for Part D Access and 112 other patient organizations to HHS Secretary Tom Price warning the agency against making changes to Medicare’s ‘six protected classes’ policy. “More than 100 patient-advocate groups are warning against eliminating coverage protections for drugs in six therapeutic classes in an upcoming Part D proposed rule,” the letter states. “The contents of the proposal are unknown, but lobbyists for industry and patients are on edge because CMS plans to propose the first Part D rule since it pursued aggressive policy changes three years ago, according to the regulatory agenda... ‘These tools give Part D plans considerable flexibility to manage more expensive medications, as well as leverage to negotiate rebates with manufacturers,’ the Partnership for Part D Access wrote in a Sept. 8 letter to HHS Secretary Tom Price. Limiting access to drugs in protected classes would probably lower drug spending, but it would do so at the expense of higher hospital costs, the group says.”
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Over 100 Patient Stakeholders Urge Secretary Price to Maintain Key Medicare Protection for Patients9/11/2017  The Partnership for Part D Access presented a letter today — cosigned by 111 individual patient advocacy organizations — to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, highlighting the importance to patients of the Medicare six protected classes policy. “The protected classes policy is essential for maintaining access to proper treatment for Medicare beneficiaries,” the letter states. “Patients with a condition in one of the protected classes have very complicated medical needs, and many of these patients must attempt a variety of therapies before coming to a decision with their physicians about what is the most appropriate treatment.”
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