Most Favored Nation NOT Favored by Lupus Advocates Those with cancer and rheumatoid arthritis aren’t the only patients that will come face-to-face with the effects of Medicare’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) policy. Those with chronic autoimmune conditions such as lupus will feel the impact of MFN too. MFN is a new policy for Medicare Part B therapies that goes into

What is the Most Favored Nation Model and Why is It Such a Problem? In November 2020, Medicare finalized a mandatory, seven-year policy to test the Most Favored Nation (MFN) payment model. The MFN policy goes into effect on January 1, 2021 and will be applied to 50 of the highest cost Part B physician-administered drugs. MFN calculates the

Physicians Weigh In on Government Meddling in Medicine A recent survey of physicians in Australia confirms that government policies that interfere with the medical decision making process has an impact on quality of care. Middlemen that make decisions based on cost containment goals, rather than concern for patients, interfere with patient access to treatments and physicians’ autonomy to put their

ACS Warns Medicare Patients Lose Access to Life-Saving Therapies The American Cancer Society (ACS) paints a grim picture of the impact of Medicare’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) policy on cancer patients. MFN is a new payment policy for Medicare Part B therapies that goes into effect on January 1, 2021. It calculates the price of a drug in 22 foreign

Rheumatologists Ring the Alarm Earlier this week the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) rang an alarm about the dangerous Most Favored Nation (MFN) drug pricing regulation. The MFN rule would base Medicare payment for 50 complex drugs and biologics on international pricing information from 22 different countries. When the price of the drug internationally is lower than what a U.S.

Value the Thought that Goes into Patient Care Patients, providers and caregivers can all agree on the straightforward sentiment f James C. Stevens, MD and Ellen M. Gravallese MD in their recent MedPage Today joint op-ed – “ensuring that patients living with chronic disease are able to access specialty care is more important than ever.” Dr. Stevens is president of