The ACR has sent a letter to Cigna expressing opposition to the initiative, which jeopardizes patients’ health, interferes with medical decision making, undermines the doctor-patient relationship and may disproportionately affect patients of lower socioeconomic status.
In a recent study, researchers designed an intervention centered on communication and led by nurses to address discontinuation rates among patients who had switched to a biosimilar. The nurses’ insight and experience reduced the nocebo effect during the intervention, which had an 84% retention rate for patients taking a biosimilar after one year.
On Feb. 1, UnitedHealthcare enacted a new policy designating Avsola and Inflectra as the preferred infliximab products for UHC commercial plans. ACR leaders have urged UHC to allow existing patients to continue on their current medication.
As of Oct. 1, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) requires that patients fail to respond to both FDA-approved rituximab biosimilars prior to receiving approval for rituximab. Exception: Rituximab-pvvr (Ruxience) is not FDA approved for rheumatoid arthritis.
On Wednesday, May 16, 2018, the ACR’s Affiliate Society Council (ASC) convened a meeting in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the ACR’s Advocacy Leadership Conference. Despite inclement weather that delayed or cancelled numerous flights, several rheumatology representatives from states across the U.S. attended the meeting in person, while others participated by conference call. “It was…
At their state capitol in Tallahassee on March 28, seven board members of the Florida Society of Rheumatology (FSR) lobbied to support legislation regarding prior authorization, step therapy and non-medical switching. They also educated lawmakers about rheumatic diseases and how access to the right therapy may dramatically improve patients’ lives. “We talked about the problems encountered…
On a chilly March morning in Lancaster, Ohio, rheumatologist Stephanie Ott, MD, shared the Ohio Association of Rheumatology’s (OAR) current advocacy efforts with ACR@Work between walking her three dogs and driving to her clinic to see patients—some of whom travel from as far away as West Virginia. “This year, we are really focusing on legislation…