Cancer groups stands against Medicare cost-cutting policy

More than 300 chronic care groups are forcing back against the Obama administration’s policy for reforming payments under Medicare Part B.

The coalition, involving more than 50 cancer-focused groups, are asserting GOP leaders in Congress to halt those policies, warning that the proposed Medicare reform “would wreak havoc on healthcare delivery, provider stability and patient access.”

The American College of Rheumatology, which depicts patients suffering from diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, warned it would "disproportionately hit the hardest" by the policy.

The administration declared previous week that it plans to pilot a latest payment structure later this year intended to incentivize doctors to prescribe “higher-value” drugs rather than simply the most expensive drugs present.

Presently, doctors are paid by the Medicare Part B program based on a drug’s average sales price, plus 6%. That rate will drop to 2.5% under the model, with a flat payment of about $16.

The proposal has sparked swift backlash across healthcare groups, prompting the top Medicare official, Andy Slavitt, to defend the plan during a panel with PhRMA previous week.

“There is nothing that we intended to do, or should do, in any way, that stops a patient from getting a prescription medicine that they require,” Slavitt claimed.