PFCD and Partners Urge CMS to Protect Patient Access

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), joined by 50 patient, provider, and health organizations, submitted comments urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider a proposed change to how fixed-dose combination therapies are classified under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program.

The proposal could treat two separately FDA-approved products as a single qualifying single source drug – even when one product includes an additional active ingredient that enables a different route of administration, such as a shift from intravenous infusion to subcutaneous injection.

For patients, these distinctions matter. A shorter or more convenient administration method can reduce travel, time away from work or caregiving responsibilities, and other barriers to staying on treatment – particularly for older adults and people living in rural or underserved communities. Medicare policy should recognize the scientific advances and patient benefits associated with therapies that expand where and how care is delivered.

Read PFCD’s full letter to CMS here.