No Patient Left Behind Joins Axios to Discuss Access to Care

By: Priscilla VanderVeer

I recently spoke at an Axios event about the forces shaping access to critical treatments, especially for patients with cancer, rare diseases, and chronic conditions.

As I shared at the event, there’s a lot to be said about what's happening to patients, and I don't fault policymakers who are looking for solutions to that. 

But when we talk about the most-favored nation (MFN) policy or the pill penalty in the Inflation Reduction Act, we're looking at policies that don’t solve the problem. 

When we talk to patients, we learn that where they experience the biggest pain is at the pharmacy counter. Instead of MFN and ill-conceived policies like the IRA that created the pill penalty, we should address how health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers are using high out-of-pocket costs, prior authorization and step therapy to make it harder for patients to get their medicines.

I was heartened to hear Rep. Greg Murphy echo these sentiments at the event. He shared that he feels intermediaries and vertical integration are the greatest problem that we're facing today in medicine. At NPLB, we want to reform these structures so that we can fix the root of the affordability problem. That will not only make today’s medicines more affordable, but also preserve future innovation, too. 

I was also encouraged by Rep. Kim Schrier’s remarks about coverage. She talked about how not extending the ACA subsidies has led to a decrease in the number of people with insurance. Now there are even more people who can't afford to go see a primary doctor or a specialist. We support extending those subsidies, and we want to make sure those plans also provide patients with valuable coverage, not just coverage in name only. 

I’m glad to see these issues get the attention they deserve, and am excited that we could contribute a patient-centered perspective to the discussion. A recap of the event can be found here, and you can watch my full conversation with Maya Goldman at Axios below.