In late April the Biden administration released the rules that govern how private health plans will operate in 2022. CCPA was disappointed to see the administration fail to address the issue of copay assistance for prescription drugs, and in doing so, miss a crucial opportunity to lower patient costs for prescription medications. The administration disregarded the recommendations of patient advocacy groups across the nation to mandate that insurers count copay assistance toward patients’ out-of-pocket caps or deductibles.
A statement by HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute outlines why this ruling is disappointing to the advocacy groups representing patients struggling from chronic, rare, or life-threatening diseases. CCPA has continued to engage extensively on this issue, by developing educational materials, including a factsheet and a Q&A, highlighting the importance of copay accumulator regulation in a letter to Congress, as well as an op-ed published in Inside Sources.
By failing to address this issue, the latest ruling fails to put the needs of the patient first. CCPA strongly opposes any policy decision that threatens affordability of medications for chronic disease patients, and urges both the Biden administration and our nation’s elected officials to pursue policies that allow vulnerable patients to access the treatments they need to survive.