AGA - American Gastroenterological Association Inc.

06/08/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/08/2024 19:42

Act now: Help us stop the costly infusion runaround

AGA is committing to protecting patient access to care - including keeping infusions in physician offices. AGA is deeply concerned that independent practices are struggling to offer infliximab biosimilar infusions due to the high acquisition costs far exceeding reimbursement.

We have developed a templated letter that your practice can use to reach out to insurers to request a blanket exception to any infliximab fail-first mandates.

Steps to use AGA's letter

  • Download the template (for AGA members only).

  • Share with your medical director of infusion services or administrative staff that support prior authorization requests.

  • Ask them to personalize based on your practice needs.

  • Send to insurers.

  • Keep AGA posted on the response you receive by sending us an email.

Deeper info about the runaround

  • The infliximab infusion runaround is part of the concerning power of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
  • As recently recognized by the Federal Trade Commission, pharmacy benefit managers wield enormous power over patients' ability to access and afford their prescription drugs, allowing PBMs to significantly influence what drugs are available and at what price. This can have dire consequences, as we are seeing in our practices.
  • Congress and regulators are waking up to PBMs anticompetitive practices and are interested to hear from physicians and patients about our struggles.
  • It is primetime to get involved!

Share your story

Tell us what you and your patients are experiencing due to insurer overreach. Real world examples lead to stronger advocacy.

Support AGA PAC

You can help by getting involved with AGA PAC, which powers AGA's advocacy for important issues like this.

AGA will not sit back and let insurers dictate how you care for your patients.

We are actively working to raise awareness of unjust insurer practices through media placements, legislative action, and by offering you resources, like this one. Please email us and let us know any other challenges we can help with.