Feb. 6, 2024
QALY Ban Bill Progresses
Michael Riotto, a Patient Advocate and member of Patients Rising, tells us how the exciting developments with the QALY ban bill could affect him and his health if it moves forward. Riotto discusses how the QALY negatively affects him and others in...
Michael Riotto, a Patient Advocate and member of Patients Rising, tells us how the exciting developments with the QALY ban bill could affect him and his health if it moves forward. Riotto discusses how the QALY negatively affects him and others in similar situations and what it would mean if it were banned.
Patients Rising has been pushing for a QALY ban for a long time and the possibility of this going to the House floor is a big step in the right direction. Patients Rising is also submitting a letter to Congress signed by patients from all 50 states advocating for the passage of this bill.
Transcript
Janson Silvers 0:02
Welcome to Healthcare Policy Pop. I'm Janson Silvers. It's Tuesday, February 6, 2024. Today's pop topics: some major updates on a piece of legislation that Patients Rising had been working to move forward for years now. The Protecting Healthcare for all Patients Act of 2023 may be moving to the House floor this week. If this bill passes, federal agencies like Medicare and Medicaid would no longer be able to use the quality adjusted life year also known as the QUALY, as a way to measure the cost effectiveness of the drug. Michael Riotto, a member of patients rising and a patient advocate tells us he was thrilled when he heard the bill might be moving forward.
Michael Riotto 0:43
I was pretty excited to say the least that the old bill number, and I don't know if it's the same bill number, HR 45, if it moves to the floor and gets a vote, it would be a huge victory for an incredible amount of patients across the board.
Janson Silvers 0:59
Riotto says it isn't right that this measuring system assigns a value to his life, because he is much more than just a single number on a piece of paper.
Michael Riotto 1:08
So it negatively affects people like myself who has who basically have a chronic non-curable disease, you know, I have a rare blood cancer that just doesn't have a cure. So I'm always on medication, always on treatment. But yet, you know, they give me a value in my life, I'm just gonna pick a number and say they give me 0.3, but yet, I'm a husband, I'm a dad, I'm a taxpayer, you know, I have much more to give in my life.
Janson Silvers 1:34
The QUALY discriminates against people with disabilities or people living with illnesses that can't be cured. Here's how Riotto says this bill passing would affect him.
Michael Riotto 1:43
It means huge things for me. I mean, there's new treatments in myeloma being developed all the time. But if the people use the QUALY, you know that new treatment that might give me another 18 months to live, would be deemed too expensive. It would just put a negative effect on my life, and therefore I wouldn't be able to get it. So how do you think that makes me feel? I mean, it's just not the right thing to do in my mind.
Janson Silvers 2:08
And Riotto says he's far from the only one who would benefit.
Michael Riotto 2:12
There's many, many patients out there with chronic disabilities, you know, diabetics or epilepsy, that this affects them too. And it's just wrong because they can give a huge amount of life. What about somebody who's a child who has childhood cancer, and maybe they develop it at 12 or 14 in the very beginning stages of their life. And yet, if they use the QUALY metric, maybe their treatment isn't approved, maybe their treatment isn't given to them.
Janson Silvers 2:44
Banning the use of the QUALY has been one of Patients Risings top priorities for several years now. And the movement of this bill to the House floor would signal a huge step forward. Patients Rising is submitting a letter to Congress that will have signatures from patients in all 50 states. Part of that letter says quote, "as patients we recognize the importance of cost effectiveness considerations in medical innovations. However, we insist that the metrics used to assess a treatment value adhere to evidence based scientific and unbiased standards." We'll have more on the Protecting Healthcare for all Patients Act of 2023 later on this week, and we will continue to track the progress of this bill. That's all for today. We're back on Thursday for another Healthcare Policy Pop, a resource of Patients Rising Now. I'm Janson Silvers, have a great day.
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