Ted Okon on Policy Priorities for COA in 2019

I’ve seen one case recently where a patient received $172,000 of drugs that were totally wasted. So, we’re going to be looking at this, we’re going to be looking at these middlemen getting in the way of the patient and the physician making a decision about their therapy, explained Ted Okon, executive director of COA.

Transcript:What are some policy priorities for COA in 2019?

I think the top priorities when you look at COA and as we move into 2019, are going to be surrounding these middlemen. These [pharmacy benefit managers] PBMs have gotten so brazen, we have more examples of where cancer patients cannot get their medications on time— cannot get their medications at all or get the wrong dose or get too much of the medication.

I’ve seen one case recently where a patient received $172,000 of drugs that were totally wasted. So, we’re going to be looking at this, we’re going to be looking at these middlemen getting in the way of the patient and the physician making a decision about their therapy.

We’re seeing too many preauthorizations being held up, so this is a top priority. We’re very concerned—very concerned– about the federal government now giving these middlemen more power especially in Part B which is chemotherapy delivered in the physician’s office.

We will be all over that, we’ll be all over any proposals at all that get in the way of the physician and the patient making informed decisions and going ahead with timely cancer treatment.