Access & Reimbursement

Breakthrough medicines and biologics have the potential to transform the way we treat some of the most serious and rare diseases, but patient access will be at risk until existing reimbursement policies are updated to reflect the current state of innovation. Novel payment mechanisms that reflect the full value of these transformative therapies, and the promise they bring to seriously ill patients, are needed to sustain this important biomedical progress.

Press Releases
December 7, 2023
The White House just announced plans to use Bayh-Dole “march-in rights” to step in and license patent rights of drugs “developed with federal funding” to other manufacturers when the price of the drug is deemed too high. BIO's Chief Advocacy Officer, Nick Shipley, made the following statement: …
March 9, 2023
President Biden today unveiled details of the White House’s budget request that included drastic changes to the Medicare program, including further expanding the program’s new authority to institute price controls in Medicare. BIO Chief Advocacy Officer, Nick Shipley, made the following statement: …
October 14, 2022
After the White House announced plans to sign an Executive Order directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)  to explore additional actions to lower prescription drug costs, Nick Shipley, Chief Advocacy Officer at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), made the…
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Robust reimbursement across sites of care:

Ensuring that physicians and other providers can provide access to the most appropriate course of treatment in the preferred setting for each patient is critical. This can be achieved through reimbursement that fully recognizes the value of these therapies and the associated care and services required for their delivery.

Avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to the coverage of transformative therapies:

Each therapy in the transformative medicines space will have individualized applications and require unique clinical circumstances, even though they may have similarities in mechanism of action or route of administration. Patients will be treated across varying healthcare settings with differing associated care needs by specialized providers with significant experiences and expertise in providing transformative therapies. The reimbursement system should ensure appropriate reimbursement for these therapies and that providers have the ability to provide these groundbreaking therapies through adequate reimbursement for the associated care they deliver. Novel payment approaches should be considered to help facilitate patient access to continued innovations in care and treatment.

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Incorporating transformative therapies into the reimbursement structure upon their approval, and…

The current coverage and reimbursement system is not structured in the most efficient and effective way to ensure timely patient access of these transformative therapies. As more of these therapies come to market, it will be critical for existing coding and reimbursement pathways and timelines to be adequately flexible to provide timely coverage and access of these therapies for patients that need them.

Letters, Comments & Testimony
April 19, 2024
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Information Collection Request on the Part C and Part D Medicare Prescription Payment Plan Model Documents.
April 1, 2024
In response to the 340B Request for Information issued by the Senate 340B Bipartisan Working Group, BIO submits detailed comments.
November 8, 2023
To protect patient access to critical prescription drugs, BIO has identified Part D guardrails (both MA-PD and PDP) for consideration as CMS develops guidance to plans for CY2025 and beyond.
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