A bill recently introduced in Congress aims to help Alphas and others with chronic and relatively rare conditions to reduce the out-of-pocket costs for their treatment.
People with lung disease related to Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency and others with rare and chronic diseases often require vital medications — frequently biologics such as the intravenous infusions used to treat Alpha-1 — that can be extremely expensive.
Health insurance companies are increasingly categorizing these drugs in “specialty tiers” that require high co-payments or coinsurance, creating barriers to treatment.
U.S. Reps. David McKinley, R-WV, and Lois Capps, D-CA, have co-sponsored H.R. 4209 – The Patients’ Access to Treatment Act (PATA). This legislation would require insurers to impose the same co-pay obligations for Tier IV/specialty tier drugs, such as biologics, as they do for Tier III medications.
