50-Plus Lawmakers Urge CMS to Drop Medicare Drug Rule Affecting Cancer Treatments
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 28
50-Plus Lawmakers Urge CMS to Drop Medicare Drug Rule Affecting Cancer Treatments
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 28
Summary
More than 50 bipartisan lawmakers asked CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz in a Sept. 21 letter not to finalize a proposed fixed-dose combination policy in Medicare’s drug price negotiation rule.
The group said the policy could pull improved versions of existing medicines into price negotiations soon after FDA approval, weakening incentives to develop upgraded cancer therapies.
Cancer immunotherapy was a central example: lawmakers said newer injectable options can replace hours-long infusions, improving access for patients, especially in rural areas.
CMS has framed the proposal as a way to stop drugmakers from making limited changes to older drugs to avoid or delay negotiated Medicare prices under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act program.
The lawmakers also argued FDA already treats those therapies as separate medicines and said CMS actuaries have not shown the policy would deliver meaningful taxpayer savings.
Could Medicare’s anti-evergreening rule unintentionally discourage faster, easier cancer treatments by treating new formulations like old drugs too soon?
How should CMS tell the difference between a minor drug tweak and a meaningful innovation that improves access, safety, or patient experience?