[Ip-health] Payers express dismay over costly care without proof of improved outcomes

[Joana Ramos]

  This issue of Oncology News International came with the following
headline:

http://www.cancernetwork.com/display/article/10165/1314148?cid=3DCN-ONI-TOC=
-092508
> Payers express dismay over costly care without proof of improved outcomes
> Representatives from the payer and provider communities gathered at
> the 2008 Oncobiotechnology Research, Clinical and Business Summit to
> discuss their most pressing concern: eliminating waste from the
> chemotherapy delivery system.

The article ( below) that follows is a little different. While one would
certainly expect and hope that patients always will get appropriate
treatments, notice that there is no mention of the need for costs to be
appropriate too. One of the oncologists interviewed says that there is
not need to discuss the topic of price controls now, only
> maybe 4 to 5 years out when Medicare is predicted to go under.

Article:

> September 1, 2008
> Oncology News International. Vol. 17 No. 9
> Payer=92s budget to get right targeted drug to right patient
> Karen Sandrick
> When laboratory tests are inaccurate or misinterpreted, patients may
> receive costly targeted drugs that provide no benefit. If the medical
> community doesn=92t resolve the problem, payers will take action on
> their own.
>
> CHICAGO=97The integration of targeted therapies into cancer care
> protocols has led to a marked rise in expenditures for
> chemotherapeutic agents. While payers support the use of agents that
> provide clear benefits, they are also concerned that some patients
> receive costly care when there is no evidence of improved outcomes.
>
> Representatives from the payer and provider communities gathered at
> the 2008 Oncobiotechnology Research, Clinical and Business Summit,
> sponsored by Northwestern University, to discuss their most pressing
> concern: Eliminating waste from the chemotherapy delivery system.
>
>
> Lee N. Newcomer, MD, executive vice president of UnitedHealthcare
> Oncology Services, Minneapolis, started off the discussion by noting
> that UnitedHealthcare no longer sets policy for coverage of expensive
> drugs. =93Earlier this year, we decided that our coverage decisions
> would be made according to National Comprehensive Cancer Network
> (NCCN) guidelines,=94 he said.
>
> Al B. Benson, III, MD, professor of medicine in the division of
> hematology/oncology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of
> Medicine, pointed out that NCCN guidelines are integrated to form a
> cancer drug compendium.
>
> =93NCCN is now the newest drug compendium that has been approved by the
> Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for reimbursement of drugs
> for the treatment of Medicare patients. Unlike most other guidelines,
> these are updated in real time,=94 Dr. Benson said.
>
> But just having a reimbursement policy in place isn=92t enough. =93What
> keeps me awake at night is how well those policies are being
> executed,=94 Dr. Newcomer said.
>
> Trastuzumab
>
> Al Benson MDAs an example, he cited a UnitedHealthcare study performed
> 2 years ago of HER2 testing in patients receiving trastuzumab
> (Herceptin). =93We found that 4% of the patients had no HER2 pathology
> reports. The tests had never been done. And 8% of the reports showed
> underexpression of HER2, yet the tumor was called HER2 positive in the
> clinical records,=94 he said.
>
> The plan now requires that the first claim for trastuzumab must
> include a pathology report that uses NCCN guidelines to determine HER2
> status. But even this did not solve the problem. =93As of last month, we
> still have a persistent 12% denial rate on trastuzumab claims, due to
> misinterpretation of pathology reports,=94 he said.
>
> Other studies suggest a 30% error rate in HER2 testing. =93So when
> deciding whether to treat a breast cancer patient with trastuzumab,
> you have a 30% chance of a lab error and a 12% chance that the results
> will be misinterpreted,=94 he said. =93The issue for payers is how to mak=
e
> sure we are not wasting resources, and we=92re getting the right drug to
> the right patient.=94
>
> Dr. Benson noted that a similar challenge will be coming up soon. =93A
> series of retrospective colon cancer studies have shown that patients
> with a mutated KRAS gene will not receive benefit from drugs like
> cetuximab [Erbitux],=94 he said. =93The problem is we find a mutated KRAS
> gene in about 40% to 45% of patients. What do we now offer these
> patients as alternative treatment? We will need to further understand
> the biology of their tumors to develop new biologic therapies.=94
>
> Even for patients with wild-type KRAS gene, who do receive a treatment
> benefit from drugs like cetuximab, he noted, =93the benefit is not 100%.
> I would predict that payers will demand that we document KRAS status
> before prescribing cetuximab. This will completely transform practice.=94
>
> Steve Russek, RPh, chief clinical officer for Accredo Health Group, a
> specialty pharmacy unit of Medco Health Solutions in Memphis, said
> that employers continue to be concerned about the growing cost of
> providing healthcare for their employees. =93For employers to hear that
> some of the treatments they are paying for are not effective because
> available laboratory tests are not being used will play very poorly
> and will push them into putting some coverage rules in place,=94 he said.
>
> Dr. Newcomer agreed: =93If the medical profession doesn=92t take this on,
> the payers will. They=92ll say, =91If you want coverage, you will have to
> use the following labs that we know provide valid test results.=92=94
>
> Dr. Benson commented that the research community is taking a closer
> look at the issue of assay validation. =93The goal at the end of a
> clinical trial is to provide the details for such validation,=94 he said.
>
> With regard to public payers, the =93concepts and the vocabulary=94 to
> contend with these important issues are still in their infancies,
> commented Bruce Quinn, MD, PhD, a senior health policy specialist for
> the law firm Foley Hoag of Boston.
>
> =93Cost-effectiveness research can mean a treatment is cheaper in the
> long run by avoiding hospitalization,=94 he said. =93Or it could mean
> there is a least costly alternative, such as when three drugs are
> equivalent but one is less costly. Or it could mean, throw people out
> of the life boat because they are too expensive for the rest of us to
> deal with. These are the kinds of entirely distinct situations that
> are usually lost in the public debate about cost effectiveness.=94
>
> Will it reach a point that payers will refuse to pay for high-cost
> drugs when the benefits are modest? =93I don=92t think that we=92re close=
 to
> a crisis in the U.S.,=94 Dr. Newcomer said, =93but eventually we will hav=
e
> to have those discussions, maybe 4 to 5 years out when Medicare is
> predicted to go under.=94
>
> In the meantime, he said, =93there is a ray of hope if we live by the
> rules. We have to stick with NCCN rules and follow our own guidelines.
> The key is not wasting the precious resources we have.=94
>


Joana Ramos, MSW
Cancer Resources & Advocacy
Seattle WA USA
+1-206-229-2420
http://ramoslink.info/
www.bmtbasics.org
www.healthyskepticism.org