Drug Plan Managers Get Behind New Senate Bill To Contain Rising Health Costs
An association representing those who manage American prescription drug plans has thrown its support behind a new Senate bill aimed at lowing health care costs while improving health care outcomes.
The Comparative Effectiveness Research Act of 2008 would establish the Health Care Comparative Effectiveness Research Institute to gather and produce data on what works best when it comes to how diseases, disorders, and other health conditions are treated, according to an announcement of the legislation from Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).
Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, was joined by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in writing the bill. Conrad is also a senior member of the Finance Committee, which oversees Medicare.
“The fact is that our health care system is not as efficient as it should be, and that is driving up costs," Conrad says. "With research, patients and their doctors can make better decisions on treatment -- meaning we could lower costs and improve health care outcomes. Healthier people should mean lower health care costs.”
The Congressional Budget Office has signaled that national health care spending could be reduced if physicians and patients had more unbiased data about what medical treatments work best for which patients, Conrad says.
The institute’s research would be made available to clinicians, patients and the public, so all Americans will have the information they need to avoid unnecessary or ineffective treatments and be well-informed health care consumers, Conrad says.
"We applaud Senators Baucus and Conrad for helping advance the discussion about how best to improve quality through more objective information and to foster value-based purchasing," says Mark Merritt, president of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA). "We look forward to reviewing the Baucus-Conrad legislation in greater detail and working collaboratively with them and other stakeholders in this area.
"PBMs have been at the forefront of efforts to bring more measurement, accountability, and real-time information to the health care system," Merritt adds. "PCMA believes comparing the clinical effectiveness of competing drug therapies is an important tool in promoting value-based purchasing. Pharmacy benefit managers have led the way with pharmacy & therapeutics (P&T) committees and a wide range of proven utilization tools--including multi-tier formularies
and step therapy--to ensure patients have access to cost-effective and clinically proven prescription drugs."
PCMA says it is the national association representing America's pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for more than 210 million Americans with health coverage provided through Fortune 500 employers, health insurance plans, labor unions, and Medicare Part D.
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The Comparative Effectiveness Research Act of 2008 would establish the Health Care Comparative Effectiveness Research Institute to gather and produce data on what works best when it comes to how diseases, disorders, and other health conditions are treated, according to an announcement of the legislation from Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).
Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, was joined by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in writing the bill. Conrad is also a senior member of the Finance Committee, which oversees Medicare.
“The fact is that our health care system is not as efficient as it should be, and that is driving up costs," Conrad says. "With research, patients and their doctors can make better decisions on treatment -- meaning we could lower costs and improve health care outcomes. Healthier people should mean lower health care costs.”
The Congressional Budget Office has signaled that national health care spending could be reduced if physicians and patients had more unbiased data about what medical treatments work best for which patients, Conrad says.
The institute’s research would be made available to clinicians, patients and the public, so all Americans will have the information they need to avoid unnecessary or ineffective treatments and be well-informed health care consumers, Conrad says.
"We applaud Senators Baucus and Conrad for helping advance the discussion about how best to improve quality through more objective information and to foster value-based purchasing," says Mark Merritt, president of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA). "We look forward to reviewing the Baucus-Conrad legislation in greater detail and working collaboratively with them and other stakeholders in this area.
"PBMs have been at the forefront of efforts to bring more measurement, accountability, and real-time information to the health care system," Merritt adds. "PCMA believes comparing the clinical effectiveness of competing drug therapies is an important tool in promoting value-based purchasing. Pharmacy benefit managers have led the way with pharmacy & therapeutics (P&T) committees and a wide range of proven utilization tools--including multi-tier formularies
and step therapy--to ensure patients have access to cost-effective and clinically proven prescription drugs."
PCMA says it is the national association representing America's pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for more than 210 million Americans with health coverage provided through Fortune 500 employers, health insurance plans, labor unions, and Medicare Part D.
Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:
Bookmark http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/ and drop back in for more news from the nation's capital.
Labels: Comparative Effectiveness Research Act of 2008, health care, Kent Conrad, Max Baucus, PBMs, PCMA, Senate
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