PAN joins letter to Congress from Partnership for Part D Access in support of Six Protected Classes policy
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On behalf of the Medicare beneficiary patients they serve, members of the Partnership for Part D Access, including the PAN Foundation, submitted a letter to the 119th Congress to voice continued support for the Six Protected Classes (6PC) policy.
The 6PC policy is a bipartisan cornerstone of the Medicare program codified in 2008 through the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services require prescription drug plans (Part D plan) to cover “all or substantially all” medications in six critical drug classes: anticonvulsants, antidepressants, antineoplastics, antipsychotics, antiretrovirals, and immunosuppressants. The organizations signed on to the letter advocate for the patients whose health and quality of life depend on access to the medications protected by the 6PC act, including those living with mental health conditions, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, lupus, HIV/AIDS, cancer, and those requiring organ transplants.
Congress has consistently supported robust protections for beneficiaries who rely on these essential drug classes for three key reasons:
- The 6PC policy protects shared decision-making between patients and their doctors. Together, doctors and patients make careful treatment decisions about which therapies are most appropriate on a case-by-case basis, and limiting options to just one or two treatments is inadequate.
- The policy keeps people healthy. Without the policy, Part D plan sponsors could exclude essential medications from their formularies, making it nearly impossible for patients who need certain drugs to access them.
- The policy saves money. While insurers can manage costs through utilization tools and cost-sharing for certain medications, broad access improves health outcomes, reduces side effects, and prevents treatment abandonment.