Consumers Unaware That Major Cancer Care Cuts Are Embedded in Medicare Prescription Drug Bill Scheduled to be Voted on Today
Patient access to cancer care is severely threatened by major cuts in cancer care that are embedded in the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill scheduled to be voted on in Congress today. "If passed, access to care for cancer patients will be severely crippled by these provisions," said Ted Okon, Co-Executive Director of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) based in Memphis, TN, and a leader in the fight to preserve cost-effective, quality community-based oncology practices.
National surveys indicate that 80% of cancer care occurs in the Community Oncology Practices - the physician's office. Community oncology provides the highest quality cancer care in the lowest cost setting. In addition, it provides the widest access to care and maintains the intimacy of the physician-patient relationship. The proposed cancer care cuts will severely cripple this system of care and lead to a public policy nightmare for cancer patients.
The Senate version of the bill will cause a large number of cancer clinics to discontinue treating Medicare patients. "We will see a major reduction of cancer care in rural and suburban settings as a result of this bill," stated Steve Coplon, Co-Executive of the Community Oncology Alliance and CEO of The West Clinic - a large cancer practice in Memphis, Tennessee. He added, "The House version of the bill is even more devastating. It dangerously threatens the integrity of chemotherapy drugs by implementing a national drug purchasing program." These Mandatory Vendor Imposition (MVI) programs have come under strict scrutiny around the country as patient care has been disrupted, counterfeit drugs have entered the marketplace, and organized crime has stepped into the prescription drug business.
A great deal of interest has been directed to this issue. For example, CBS's 60 Minutes investigated counterfeit prescription drugs and organized crime in their segment on "Bad Medicine," which aired on December 22, 2002. This report focused on how counterfeit drugs have invaded the cancer care setting. These counterfeit drugs were introduced to the marketplace through specialty pharmacy programs similar to those proposed by the House Bill. "This method has proven to be a dismal and dangerous failure and is being jettisoned in various markets," stated Coplon. He added, "The standard distribution system for Oncology Drugs works well and ensures the validity and integrity of the drugs. Every effort to tamper with this system has led to major problems for cancer patients."
COA recently completed a national study that demonstrates that essential cancer care services are under reimbursed by $718 million. The current system of reimbursement provides for a cross-subsidy from the drug reimbursement to partially fund the under reimbursement for essential services needed in delivering cancer care. "These services are essential to cancer care. They include the nurses, pharmacists, techs, supportive care services, infrastructure, and technology - without these services cancer care cannot be delivered," stated Okon. The current cross-subsidy covers $570 million of the under reimbursement. Therefore, nationally, community oncology practices lose $148 million, or 3% by treating Medicare patients.
COA is for balanced reform. "We support the principles contained in HR 1622, the Quality Cancer Care Preservation Act," said Coplon. All the major national cancer organizations support this bill. It is the only legislation that has been introduced that resolves the issue in a balanced way.
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