No Patient Left Behind

Thank you Rep. Jake Auchincloss and Brian Reid for highlighting the #GCEA user guide. Conventional cost-effectiveness analysis methods overlook important aspects of the patient and caregiver experience, as well as market dynamics. The user guide (and soon our online calculator) enables innovators, investors, patient advocates, and even HTA entities to better quantify the societal value of new medicines. You can read how to operationalize the guide and learn more about the paper's authors here: https://lnkd.in/eNvwHwbD

What would it be worth to end obesity? Keep reading to learn more about the need to get the math right when modeling the value of new medicines. This October, the Congressional Budget Office projected that the cost of covering weight-loss drugs for Medicare beneficiaries would be $35 billion over eight years. Using a narrow measure of patient and societal value, they estimated that the savings from improved patient health would only be a small fraction of the total cost. It’s important that CBO update its incomplete models. Here’s why: ?? Medicines do so much more than help the patients treated today. ?? When a sick person gets better, their family benefits, their caregivers are freed up to help others, and everyone’s joy and productivity is restored. New drugs eventually become inexpensive generics, providing future generations the same benefit for little cost. And we all enjoy peace of mind knowing that medicines are there if we need them. The CBO’s model relies on an outdated framework from Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) that ignores many of these societal values. A report from the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics employed a broader measure of societal value that captured these other benefits and the impact of eventual genericization. It projected the savings for Medicare over 30 years at $1.5 trillion. ?? Value assessments are signals to future investors and researchers. ?? Models are a signal of what society values, and their estimates inform investors choosing which drug candidates to further develop. If we undervalue today’s new medicines, many of tomorrow’s most promising cures will go without the funding they need—making us all worse off. It’s important that we ensure economic forecasts like those from the CBO don’t overlook the societal elements of value that make medicines so transformative. You can read the full report from the USC Schaeffer Center here: https://lnkd.in/gENJx2u9 And learn more about the value of medicines on our website: https://lnkd.in/djDUhKGz

Health economists, patient advocates, and industry leaders at #ISPOREurope gathered this week at NPLB’s networking reception to enjoy tapas and discuss the latest in generalized cost-effectiveness research. It was great to connect with attendees across the biotech ecosystem and demonstrate an early version of our upcoming generalized cost-effectiveness calculator with industry stakeholders. Learn more about the importance of properly valuing new medicines for patient access and future innovation: https://lnkd.in/djDUhKGz #ISPORSummit #RWE #RealWorldEvidence #HEOR #HTA #Healthcare ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research

Two great poster presentations from Emily Kelty and Jacqueline Rhuda at #ISPOREurope. Emily Kelty's poster shared important research on unconscionable coverage denials from health plans and provided data and case studies for policymakers and plan managers interested in reforms. Jacqueline Rhuda's research focused on the impact of government price setting to indication expansion and the consequences for incremental innovation. Her work is useful for regulators hoping to mitigate the unintended consequences of the Inflation Reduction Act and for all who want to preserve continued innovation for future patient populations. Learn more about the importance of insurance reform and the value of medicines on our website and thanks to everyone who participated this week at #ISPOREurope! https://lnkd.in/eVYzX8-C #ISPORSummit #RWE #RealWorldEvidence #HEOR #HTA #Healthcare ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research

?? Preserving Innovation for Those Still Waiting for a Cure ?? The promise of new treatments offers hope to patients still waiting for a cure. To preserve that hope, we must protect the incentives that drive investment and innovation. Here are three priorities NPLB is fighting for: First, policy should not arbitrarily shorten the expected reward period for new medicines or privilege one class of drug over another. These potential profits motivate investors to fund scientists and researchers looking for new cures, and we need all available tools in the fight against disease. Second, let’s demand that insurance fully covers doctor-prescribed medicines so that today’s patients are not burdened with high out-of-pocket costs. Otherwise, what are premiums for? Finally, international trade deals should encourage our allies in Europe and elsewhere to stop improperly valuing new medicines and pay their fair share for continued biomedical innovation. Many Americans feel they are unfairly paying more for medicines than people in other developed countries. Instead of adopting misguided price controls, we ought to stop the rest of the world from free-riding on American innovation. Medical progress over the last quarter century has reduced suffering and saved millions of lives. There’s so much more we can do. ?? Learn more: https://bit.ly/40FiQT8 #HealthcareInnovation #SmallMoleculeParity #AffordableMedicines #NPLB

Great panel yesterday with Prof. Lotte Steuten, PhD, Jason Shafrin, Melanie Whittington, and Richard Willke on the societal value of medicines, the best practices for capturing these broader elements in health technology assessments, and the implications for access and innovation in Europe and elsewhere. Earlier this month, Jason Shafrin, Melanie Whittington, Richard Willke, and nine other leading health economists published a paper in The Forum for Health Economics & Policy?that suggests new methods for updating value assessments to include societal benefits. The authors identified fifteen real world values that conventional cost-effectiveness analysis omits—things like price drops due to genericization and the impact of a new treatment on caregivers and families. The paper will be an important reference for operationalizing generalized cost-effectiveness and more accurately measuring a drug’s value. Read more about the paper below: https://lnkd.in/ebCTwG74 #ISPOREurope #RWE #RealWorldEvidence #HEOR #HTA #Healthcare ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research

We're proud to support such important #GCEA research from top health economists. #ISPOREurope #AffordableInnovation

Attending ISPOR 2024 In Barcelona? Please join us for tapas, drinks, and the latest in generalized cost-effectiveness research at a networking reception this TUESDAY. For more information and to RSVP, click here: https://lnkd.in/gEkctDJx Earlier today, NPLB Board member Gunnar Esiason spoke on the importance of meaningful collaboration with patient partners in new R&D, drug approval, and coverage decisions. Later today, hear from Melanie Whittington, Richard Willke, and Jason Shafrin on their recent paper suggesting new methods for measuring a drug's societal value. Tomorrow, Jason Shafrin will expand on the importance of capturing dynamic pricing and long-run value when assessing a drug's worth. You can see the full lineup of recommended panel and poster presentations here: https://lnkd.in/gbt5-JbD #ISPOREurope #ISPORSummit #RWE #RealWorldEvidence #HEOR #HTA #Healthcare ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research

?? Fueling Innovation for Affordable Healthcare ?? Hundreds of thousands of scientists are working to create better medicines, funded by an insurance system that makes these breakthroughs affordable for patients and profitable for inventors. Our patent system ensures that temporarily expensive medicines eventually go generic, delivering huge savings to society. However, some drugs don’t go generic as intended due to patent-gaming or regulatory hurdles. To unlock the full value of innovation, Congress must strengthen laws ensuring timely access to generics. Let’s protect the system that fuels affordable healthcare while fostering new cures. ?? Watch to learn more. #HealthcareInnovation #Generics #AffordableHealthcare #NPLB

What is generalized cost-effectiveness analysis (GCEA)? And why should policymakers and industry stakeholders care? A new report sponsored by NPLB and authored by 12 leading health economists explains the importance of getting the math right when valuing new medicines. Traditionally, health economists have relied on an incomplete method for assessing the value of a medicine. These skimpier analyses only measured the narrower set of benefits that accrue to payors, like the immediate health improvements for the patient. But we know medicines do so much more than just helping today’s patients. When a sick person gets better, their family benefits, their caregivers are freed up to help others, and everyone’s joy and productivity is restored. What we learn from one medicine may help us to develop newer, better ones. New drugs eventually become inexpensive generics, providing future generations the same benefit for little cost. And we all enjoy peace of mind knowing that medicines are there if we need them. Sometimes, insurers use their narrow definition of value to deny coverage and/or charge high co-pays, even for life-saving treatments—deterring their appropriate use and signaling to investors that society doesn’t want more such medicines. If policymakers use the incomplete math in coverage decisions, in the short term, new medicines will be undervalued and those in need of the treatment might not be able to access them. In the long run, we will get fewer new treatments, and we will all end up worse off. The new report, published in The Forum for Health Economics & Policy, provides health economists with a practical guide for quantifying the full value of medicines. The authors identify 15 elements of value captured in GCEA that are excluded from or incompletely captured in conventional CEA and suggest improved methods for measuring these broader benefits. Read our press release here: https://lnkd.in/ebCTwG74 And learn more about the value of medicines here: https://lnkd.in/djDUhKGz