CLINICAL NEWS
Medicare Part D Beneficiaries With Myeloma Receive Novel
Therapies More Frequently, Have Better Survival
People with myeloma who have prescrip-
tion drug coverage under Medicare are
less likely to use older cytotoxic chemo-
therapy and more likely to receive newly
approved therapies, compared with pa-
tients who are not enrolled in Medicare.
Enrollment in a Medicare Part D plan
(PDP) or through a supplemental plan
also was tied to better survival outcomes,
according to a study published in the
Journal of Clinical Oncology.
“Our results highlight the increasing
need to provide financial guidance and
discuss economic repercussions of cancer
therapy with patients, particularly those
with hematologic malignancies treated
with expensive oral antineoplas-
tic agents,” lead author Adam J.
Olszewski, MD, of Brown University
told ASH Clinical News. “If access to
all treatment options at diagnosis is
associated with survival outcomes (as
we have observed), then we can expect
emergence of significant disparities
depending on site of care.”
“Our results
have
important
implications
for clinicians ...
and for health-
care policy.”
—ADAM J. OLSZEWSKI, MD
Traditional Medicare plans covered
only parenteral chemotherapy, poten-
tially limiting patients’ access to newer,
more effective oral therapies like the
immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs)
lenalidomide and thalidomide or the
proteasome inhibitor ixazomib. In
2006, the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services enacted the PDP
drug benefit, which allowed benefi-
ciaries to obtain prescription coverage
through employer-sponsored plans or
federal employee or veterans’ benefits,
collectively referred to as other credit-
able coverage (OCC).
To determine how these drug
benefits affected access to therapies,
receipt of therapy, and survival among
Medicare beneficiaries, the research-
ers obtained patient data from 9,755
Medicare enrollees who were diag-
nosed with myeloma between 2006
and 2011. All patients were enrolled
in a Medicare Part A/B plan before
diagnosis for at least a year prior to
diagnosis.
Coverage status at diagnosis was as
follows:
• No prescription drug coverage
(n=1,460; 15%)
ASH Clinical News
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