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A Health Podyssey - Stacie Dusetzina Shares Why Medicare Beneficiaries May Not Fill Specialty Drug Prescriptions

Stacie Dusetzina Shares Why Medicare Beneficiaries May Not Fill Specialty Drug Prescriptions

04/12/22 • 30 min

A Health Podyssey

This episode is sponsored by the Rural Health Research Gateway at the University of North Dakota.

The United States is facing a drug affordability crisis.

Even as we celebrate scientific discovery, the health benefits of drugs are limited due to barriers of affordability, often even for people with health insurance. The RAND Corporation reports that on average drug prices in the United States are more than two and a half times those in 32 other nations studied. The disparities are even wider when we focus just on brand name drugs.

Drug pricing is the subject of seemingly perennial debates. One side focuses on access barriers due to high prices while the other side argues that lower prices threaten future innovation.

Stacie Dusetzina from Vanderbilt University Medical Center joins A Health Podyssey to talk about the complex world of drug pricing.

She and colleagues published a paper in the April 2022 issue of Health Affairs examining the degree to which people with Medicare prescription drug benefits use the drugs that are prescribed to them.

In the paper, the authors found non-initiation rates among some beneficiaries of greater than 50 percent for certain treatments.

If you enjoy this interview, order the April 2022 Health Affairs issue to get research on access to care, hospitals and more.

Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

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This episode is sponsored by the Rural Health Research Gateway at the University of North Dakota.

The United States is facing a drug affordability crisis.

Even as we celebrate scientific discovery, the health benefits of drugs are limited due to barriers of affordability, often even for people with health insurance. The RAND Corporation reports that on average drug prices in the United States are more than two and a half times those in 32 other nations studied. The disparities are even wider when we focus just on brand name drugs.

Drug pricing is the subject of seemingly perennial debates. One side focuses on access barriers due to high prices while the other side argues that lower prices threaten future innovation.

Stacie Dusetzina from Vanderbilt University Medical Center joins A Health Podyssey to talk about the complex world of drug pricing.

She and colleagues published a paper in the April 2022 issue of Health Affairs examining the degree to which people with Medicare prescription drug benefits use the drugs that are prescribed to them.

In the paper, the authors found non-initiation rates among some beneficiaries of greater than 50 percent for certain treatments.

If you enjoy this interview, order the April 2022 Health Affairs issue to get research on access to care, hospitals and more.

Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

Previous Episode

undefined - Kathryn Phillips Wants to Anticipate Payer Cancer Coverage as Screenings Evolve

Kathryn Phillips Wants to Anticipate Payer Cancer Coverage as Screenings Evolve

This episode is sponsored by the Rural Health Research Gateway at the University of North Dakota.

Cancer diagnosis has changed radically in the era of precision medicine. New techniques like multi-cancer early-detection screening tests can detect up to 50 types of cancer from a single blood draw.

We generally think of early detection, especially of cancer, as an unambiguously good thing. Given that, you might assume and expect that insurers would readily pay for it. But it turns out the considerations regarding insurance coverage for these screening tests are quite complex.

As is often the case, advances in medical technology have accelerated beyond certain policies that were put in place when cancer diagnosis and treatment were very different.

Kathryn Phillips from the University of California San Francisco joins A Health Podyssey to discuss how we can gain the advantages of better cancer screening technologies as they emerge.

Phillips and coauthors published a paper in the March 2022 edition of Health Affairs examining payment considerations for multi-cancer screening tests. They outline clinical and economic considerations that will have to adjust to meet the new reality.

If you enjoy this interview, order the March 2022 Health Affairs issue to get research on hospitals, health equity, care delivery and more.

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Next Episode

undefined - Katie Keith Throws an ACA Birthday Party

Katie Keith Throws an ACA Birthday Party

This episode is sponsored by the Rural Health Research Gateway at the University of North Dakota.

March 23 marked the 12th anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

This landmark legislation expanded health care access to millions of Americans and accelerated changes in how we organize and pay for health care. Having survived numerous legal challenges and strong political opposition by some, it continues to be the centerpiece of domestic health policy.

If you want to understand the evolution of the Affordable Care Act from enactment to today, there's no one better to learn from than Katie Keith of the Georgetown University Law Center.

Keith is a regular contributor to Health Affairs' Following The ACA Forefront article series and the recently launched Health Reform newsletter. Most recently, she's written about the No Surprises Act rules, the Department of Health & Human Services response to anti-trans youth policies, delay of the Sunset Rule, and much more.

Today on A Health Podyssey, Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil and Katie Keith dive into the latest ACA news and explore the law's successes, shortcomings, and unfinished work.

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