Elimination of insurance-mandated step therapy and allowing the Medicare beneficiaries to use copay assistance programs are among the changes the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) wants to see.
The goal of treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis (UC), is to achieve and sustain remission. This requires coordinated efforts between a multidisciplinary team of experts, including gastroenterologists, surgeons, nurses, mental health professionals, dietitians and pharmacists.
The past two decades have afforded advances in IBD treatments that can slow or stop disease progression and minimize complications, such as the need for surgery, organ damage, and an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer. However, many new therapies come with a hefty price tag, and numerous barriers exist, rendering the most effective IBD treatments inaccessible to some patients.
In a white paper, which was recently published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology and to appear in the May 2024 print issue, the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) highlights current barriers to care for people living with IBD and provides a 12-point plan to address these barriers and improve access to effective IBD therapies.
AGA delineates the following barriers to IBD care:
With improved patient health and well-being as a guiding principle to develop policies that embrace high-value, multidisciplinary IBD care, AGA announced the following 12-step plan to improve access to care:
AGA emphasizes that changes in the current healthcare system could improve patient care effectiveness, efficiency, and equity.
“Unaffordable drug costs, step therapy, and other insurer-mandated barriers are fixable problems. Every day, we see people that have been harmed by delayed and inadequate care. Solving these barriers would lift an unimaginable weight off our patient’s shoulders and allow them to lead healthier lives,” said M. Anthony Sofia, M.D., co-first author of the white paper and IBD specialist at Oregon Health and Science University, in a press release.
The Future of Ulcerative Colitis Treatment: Tremfya's Potential Unveiled
July 11th 2024Tremfya is an interleukin (IL)-23 and CD64-inhibiting monoclonal antibody. The FDA approved it in 2017 as a moderate to severe plaque psoriasis treatment. It has since been approved to treat psoriatic arthritis.
Read More
Stem-like T Cells: A Potential Target for Ulcerative Colitis Treatment
July 1st 2024A study published in Nature Immunology focused on understanding the origins of stem-like T cells in ulcerative colitis patients. By analyzing colon tissue samples from human patients, researchers found a significant population of stem-like T cells in inflamed regions of the large intestine compared to healthy individuals.
Read More
In a study recently published in BMJ Open Gastroenterology, researchers led by Pernille Dige Ovesen from the department of gastroenterology and hepatology in Copenhagen University Hospital investigated the effect of concomitant corticosteroid therapy on treatment outcomes in patients with UC initiating infliximab.
Read More