(Press-News.org) For more information, contact:
Nicole Fawcett, nfawcett@umich.edu
EMBARGOED for release at 11 a.m. Sept. 10, 2024
New law regulating out-of-pocket drug spending saves cancer patients more than $7,000 a year, study finds
The Inflation Reduction Act’s limit on Medicare Part D spending leads to significant savings for patients prescribed oral chemotherapy
ANN ARBOR, Michigan — As prescription oral chemotherapies have become a common form of cancer treatment, some patients were paying more than $10,000 a year for medications. A new study finds that efforts to cap prescription drug spending are yielding significant out-of-pocket savings for these patients.
The Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, included establishing a cap on out-of-pocket spending for those enrolled in Medicare Part D prescription drug plans.
Researchers from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and Rogel Cancer Center used the online Medicare Part D Plan Finder tool to assess how much patients were paying for the most commonly prescribed oral chemotherapies. They compared data from 2023, when no out-of-pocket cap was in place, to 2024, when the policy first took effect.
For Medicare Part D beneficiaries, annual out-of-pocket costs for oral cancer medications averaged $11,284 in 2023. In 2024, the average annual cost for the same medications is estimated to be $3,927. The median cost saving from 2023 to 2024 is estimated to be $7,260, demonstrating the policy’s effect on decreasing costs for patients. The study is published in JAMA Network Open.
“People with cancer are already vulnerable to financial distress and medical debt. Our analysis suggests that legislative policy can have a big impact on the cost of cancer care. This is especially critical as lawmakers now consider extending an out-of-pocket cap to commercial insurance,” said lead study author Benjamin Pockros, M.D., M.B.A., a urology resident at Michigan Medicine.
In 2025, an out-of-pocket cap will be set at $2,000, which the researchers predict will result in even greater savings for patients.
Additional authors: Chad Ellimoottil, M.D.; Belal Sbei; Megan Caram, M.D.; Kristian Stensland, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.
Funding for this work is from the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.
Disclosure: None
Paper cited: “Changes in Out-of-Pocket Spending for Common Oral Cancer Medications After the Inflation Reduction Act,” JAMA Network Open. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.32456
Resources:
University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, www.rogelcancercenter.org
University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, www.ihpi.umich.edu
Michigan Medicine Cancer AnswerLine, 800-865-1125
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About The Study: In this modeling study of racial and ethnic disparities of tuberculosis (TB), these disparities were associated with substantial future health and economic outcomes of TB among U.S.-born persons without interventions beyond current efforts. Actions to eliminate disparities may reduce the excess TB burden among these persons and may contribute to accelerating TB elimination within the U.S.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Nicole A. Swartwood, MSPH, email nswartwood@hsph.harvard.edu.
To ...
Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) researchers uncover the genetic link in patients with polycystic kidney disease lacking family history
Tokyo, Japan – Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an intractable disorder that causes fluid-filled cysts to grow in the kidneys. It is typically seen in adults. As one of the most prevalent hereditary kidney diseases, the autosomal dominant form of PKD is usually caused by mutations in the PKD1 and PKD2 genes. However, one out of ten patients with this condition typically exhibit no family history of the disease and lack ...
NEW YORK/TORONTO – September 10, 2024 – Researchers at Klick Labs unveiled a cutting-edge, non-invasive technique that can predict chronic high blood pressure (hypertension) with a high degree of accuracy using just a person's voice. Just published in the peer-reviewed journal IEEE Access, the findings hold tremendous potential for advancing early detection of chronic high blood pressure and showcase yet another novel way to harness vocal biomarkers for better health outcomes.
The ...
WHO: The Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program (Kids First), an initiative of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
WHAT: Kids First announces the release of three comprehensive new pediatric research datasets exploring childhood cancers and congenital disorders. New publicly available datasets include:
CHILDHOOD CANCERS
Gabriella Miller Kids First (GMKF) Pediatric Research Program in Susceptibility to Ewing Sarcoma Based on Germline Risk and Familial History of Cancer.
Principal Investigators: Joshua D. Schiffman, MD. Huntsman Cancer Institute, ...
A new study from Umeå University, Sweden, shows that the body's muscles sense mechanical pressure. This new discovery has important implications for movement neuroscience and may improve the design of training and rehabilitation to relieve stiff muscles.
"The results provide an important piece of the puzzle in understanding what information our nervous system receives from muscles," says Michael Dimitriou, associate professor at the Department of Medical and Translational Biology, ...
Women who are being treated for asthma are more likely to miscarry and need fertility treatment to get pregnant, according to a large study presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Vienna, Austria [1]. However, the study also suggests that most women with asthma are able to have babies.
The study was presented by Dr Anne Vejen Hansen from the department of respiratory medicine at Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark.
She said: “Asthma is common in women of reproductive age. Previous ...
ABSTRACTS: 510MO, 618MO, 1821MO, 71MO, 995MO
BARCELONA, Spain ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights provides a glimpse into recent basic, translational and clinical cancer research from MD Anderson experts. This special edition features upcoming oral presentations by MD Anderson researchers at the 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress focused on clinical advances across a variety of cancer types.
In addition to the studies summarized below, forthcoming press releases will feature the following oral presentations:
Initial results from a first-in-human ...
Figshare, a leading provider of institutional repository infrastructure that supports open research, is pleased to announce that Appalachian State University has chosen Figshare as its new institutional repository platform to share, showcase and manage its research outputs.
Appalachian State University (App State) – part of the University of North Carolina System – chose Figshare as its new repository platform to replace the NC DOCKS consortial repository, which was created in 2007 and is slated to shut down at the end of 2024. The team at App State wanted to ...
Patients taking sulthiame, a drug currently in use for epilepsy, experienced a reduction in their symptoms of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), according to results of a clinical trial presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Vienna, Austria [1].
Patients with OSA often snore loudly, their breathing starts and stops during the night, and they may wake up several times. Not only does this cause tiredness, but it can also increase the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. OSA is very common, but many people do not ...
A scientific team supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has created a preclinical blood test to identify adults most likely to develop severe respiratory conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The blood test analyzes 32 proteins that scientists determined accurately predicted an adult with an increased likelihood for requiring medical care for or dying from severe respiratory illness. The risk score was based on lung health data collected from nearly 2,500 U.S. adults over a 30-year period. The findings were published ...
