Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions
Subsidies and Medication Affordability in Myeloma
J Clin Oncol; ePub 2017 May 25; Olszewski, et al
Myeloma patients who receive benefits but no low-income subsidies are not able to easily afford oral anticancer therapy, according to a study involving more than 3,000 individuals.
Investigators looked at how low-income subsidies impacted use of oral immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) and costs in Medicare patients diagnosed with myeloma between 2007 and 2011. Among the results:
- 4 in every 10 beneficiaries received first-line IMiDs.
- Median out-of-pocket cost for the first IMiD prescription was nearly $3,200 for patients who received no subsidy, vs $3 for those who did.
- Median costs for year 1 therapy was more than $5,600 and $6, respectively.
- Patients 75 to 84 years of age who received a subsidy were 32% more likely to receive IMiDs.
- Duration of therapy was a median of 7.6 months overall, and did not significantly differ between the 2 income groups.
- Patients treated with IMiDs had significantly fewer emergency department visits than those not treated with such, but overall survival and cumulative Medicare costs were similar.
Citation:
Olszewski A, Dusetzina S, Eaton C, Davidoff A, Trivedi A. Subsidies for oral chemotherapy and use of immunomodulatory drugs among Medicare beneficiaries with myeloma. [Published online ahead of print May 25, 2017]. J Clin Oncol. doi:10.1200/JCO.2017.72.2447.