Originally published in Healio Rheumatology
The American College of Rheumatology has called for the removal of step therapy, ranked medications and fail-first policies that are based solely on cost.
The call to abolish step therapy is one of several recommendations issued by the ACR regarding drug pricing and access. The recommendations were included in two position papers recently sent to members of Congress, CMS, pharmacy benefit management companies and others.
“Step therapy is an enormous barrier between patients and the prescription medicines they and their doctor decide on — and a very frequent problem for people with rheumatologic diseases,” Angus B. Worthing, MD, FACP, FACR, chairman of the ACR government affairs committee, told Healio Rheumatology. “It erodes patient and physician autonomy by covering preferred drugs that benefit the insurer and pharmacy benefit manager most instead of what is best for the patient.”
