New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

An overlooked voluntary program that’s part of the IRA could be the key to improving affordability for Medicare patients needing expensive oral cancer drugs, according to a new study from researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published today in JCO Oncology Practice.

“High out-of-pocket costs often put these critical medicines out of reach and can lead to patients abandoning treatment,” said study lead author Jalpa Doshi, PhD, Leon Hess Professor in Internal Medicine and Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. “The annual out-of-pocket maximum and MPPP together make it possible for Medicare Part D beneficiaries to greatly reduce these costs, on an annual and monthly basis.”