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Wisconsin Step Therapy Advocacy Day
Date:
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Time:
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Location:
Wisconsin State Capitol
2 East Main Street
Hearing Room 300 NE
Madison, WI 53702
The Wisconsin Step Therapy Coalition invites you to join us on this important day to meet with your state legislators and discuss step therapy legislation. The day will begin with a briefing in the morning followed by legislative visits in the afternoon.
Please register by February 20 at http://bit.ly/WIsteptherapy
If you have any questions, please contact:
Kari Lato at klato@cullarigroup.com or Angie Thies at athies@psoriasis.org
What is step therapy?
Date:
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Time:
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Location:
Wisconsin State Capitol
2 East Main Street
Hearing Room 300 NE
Madison, WI 53702
The Wisconsin Step Therapy Coalition invites you to join us on this important day to meet with your state legislators and discuss step therapy legislation. The day will begin with a briefing in the morning followed by legislative visits in the afternoon.
Please register by February 20 at http://bit.ly/WIsteptherapy
If you have any questions, please contact:
Kari Lato at klato@cullarigroup.com or Angie Thies at athies@psoriasis.org
What is step therapy?
Step Therapy—Clinical Algorithms, Legislation, and Optimal Prescribing
Michael A. Fischer, MD, Jerry Avorn, MD
JAMA. 2017;317(8):801-802. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.20619
Increasing prescription drug costs impose economic burdens for patients and payers and are reflected in substantial increases in insurance premiums for individuals and employers and budget stress for public programs. One widely used approach to control prescription costs is “step therapy”: requiring patients to try a less expensive drug for a given condition before a more expensive option can be approved. Authorization of the second-line agent may require attestation by the prescriber that the patient took the initial medication and had adverse effects or inadequate clinical benefit. Such clinical algorithms are often sensible and evidence based and can improve the quality of care. But sometimes they are not, because of limited evidence, inadequate attention to the underlying evidence, or an emphasis on cost containment rather than patient outcomes. The economic stakes can be high, because manufacturers’ promotion to both prescribers and patients is usually aimed at encouraging use of more costly second-line agents.
Michael A. Fischer, MD, Jerry Avorn, MD
JAMA. 2017;317(8):801-802. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.20619
Increasing prescription drug costs impose economic burdens for patients and payers and are reflected in substantial increases in insurance premiums for individuals and employers and budget stress for public programs. One widely used approach to control prescription costs is “step therapy”: requiring patients to try a less expensive drug for a given condition before a more expensive option can be approved. Authorization of the second-line agent may require attestation by the prescriber that the patient took the initial medication and had adverse effects or inadequate clinical benefit. Such clinical algorithms are often sensible and evidence based and can improve the quality of care. But sometimes they are not, because of limited evidence, inadequate attention to the underlying evidence, or an emphasis on cost containment rather than patient outcomes. The economic stakes can be high, because manufacturers’ promotion to both prescribers and patients is usually aimed at encouraging use of more costly second-line agents.
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