— FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —
Prescriptions for a Healthy America Commends Medication Adherence Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C., (October 3, 2016) — Prescriptions for a Healthy America, the medication adherence campaign of the Council for Affordable Health Coverage, commends Senator Carper and Senator Roberts for introducing a bill to improve medication adherence (S. 3454).
Medication non-adherence, when patients don’t take their drugs as prescribed, costs an already strained health care system $290 billion a year. And unfortunately, non-adherence is widespread. More than half of all Americans are not taking their medications properly — which worsens America’s health affordability crisis with preventable hospital and emergency room visits.
This cannot continue. Senators Carper and Roberts’ bill would help identify those at risk of medication-related issues by sharing Medicare A and B claims data with Part D plans; and redefining “medication management” as “quality improving.” The redefinition would reduce the administrative costs associated with medication management activities, incentivizing plans to offer them. Furthermore, the bill allows MA-PD plans, where more than one-quarter of seniors receive their benefits, to test innovative new strategies to promote adherence.
Improving medication adherence across America should be a priority for Congress and we support Senators Carper and Roberts’ leadership on this issue. Passing this bill swiftly will reduce health costs and save lives.
###
Prescriptions for a Healthy America
Prescriptions for a Healthy America: A Partnership for Advancing Medication Adherence (P4HA) was launched in 2013 by the Council for Affordable Health Coverage. P4HA brings together leading patient, physician and health care industry leaders to urge policymakers to implement near-term solutions that will help reduce health care costs and improve the lives of patients across the nation.
