Those who think that Medicare isn’t restricting on new therapies, think again. By cutting reimbursement to new cancer drugs, they are essentially preventing hospitals from giving it:
. . . the companies say Medicare’s data must be inaccurate and that no hospital will offer the drugs to Medicare patients if it is losing $10,000 or more on each treatment.
Patients lose.
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{ 3 comments }
Here’s what happens next (based on the UK’s NHS and the cases surround cancer drugs there)…
Some cancer patients get in the press for not being able to obtain drugs. Enterprising attorney ‘helps them out’ with a pro bono (with backend compensation) suit, regardless of the efficacy of the treatment the patient wants. If it costs $50,000 and stands even a remote chance of affecting any patient, it’ll have to be provided.
The hospital being sued will settle or lose and have to provide treatment. Other patients will then see their care drastically curtailed, and prices will rise, to subsidise these patients.
Rinse and repeat.
I disagree, Luke. Per the article, if the hospital does not offer the treatment to Medicare patients, it can’t provide that treatment for anyone regardless of insurance. It sounds like hospitals will simply refuse to offer the treatment if it’s not financially viable. It doesn’t sound like they’re required to provide this treatment, so how could they be sued?
So now medicare is screwing with the care of patients who don’t even have medicare.
That’s messed up.
Luke,
I agree that you are wrong. Doctors and Hospitals are not obligated to provide free care for people at the risk of a lawsuit if it is non-emergent. Zevalin and Bexxar are given as an outpatient after a BM biopsy proves less than 20% of the bone marrow is involved.
This is the beginning of rationing which had to start somewhere. Next stop–transplant medicine.
b
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