Leave Medicare Drug Coverage Alone, Patient Advocates Say

Medicare’s system for ensuring that patients are able to get the specific medicine they need for certain chronic diseases is working, and the government should not tinker with it, a panel of patient advocates said.

Medicare plans that cover the prescriptions already have adequate tools to keep pharmaceutical prices contained, Catherine Finley, senior adviser for a coalition called the Partnership for Part D Access, said. She spoke during a Nov. 28 panel discussion on changes to the drug benefit proposed for 2020.

Insurers must cover substantially all medicines in six “protected classes” of drugs, but the Centers for Medicare & ...