Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1195263
Connecting Kansans to the health care they need Connecting Kansans to the health care they need Kansas Health Science Center is a nonprofit organization committed to training well-prepared physicians and leaders in emerging areas of health care. With the goal of opening the proposed Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2022, we strive to positively impact the health landscape and economic development in Wichita and the greater Kansas region. Learn more about KHSC and follow our progress at www.kansashsc.org or call 316.440.2700 for more information. * Proposed architect rendering for future facilities looking south off of Douglas Ave. MS Patients on Medicare Face Rising Costs C O M P L E X R U L E S A R E F O R C I N G Medicare patients diagnosed with MS to pay vastly more for care, new research finds. Under the rules, patients must pay a significantly higher share of the cost for therapies to treat the condition, according to a study in Health Affairs. Annual out-of-pocket spending among Medicare beneficiaries who do not receive low-income subsidies is now nearly $7,000, researchers determined. Use of generic drugs is no guarantee of lower prices, they point out. "In one telling example, researchers documented how patients who are prescribed the only generic drug in one class — glatiramer acetate — will pay more out of pocket than patients using any of the other brand-name drugs in the same class," states a news release about the findings. The reason? 2018 legislation aimed at lowering prices for brand-name drugs ultimately resulted in certain generics used to treat MS costing more than their brand-name versions. n — Steve Barrett Access to Addiction-Treating Drug Too Limited, Study Finds B E T W E E N 2 0 0 7 A N D 2 018, Medicare Part D beneficiaries' access to buprenorphine, a drug used to treat addiction, became increas- ingly restricted, researchers wrote recently in a letter in JAMA. They cited efforts by insurers to control costs as a driving force for this change. The medical community is more widely embracing use of such medications among people with opioid use disorder, according to the scientists. Yet only 35% of insurance plans offered unrestricted access to buprenorphine in 2018, compared with 89% in 2007. "Many people still believe that medi- cation treatment isn't really recovery," states co-author Todd Korthuis, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine and Public Health and Preventative Medicine in the Oregon Health & Science University, in a news release. "Overwhelming scientific evidence supports that medicines like buprenorphine are far more successful and safer than abstinence- only approaches." n — Steve Barrett M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S G R E AT E R K A N S A S ■ 2 019/ 2 0 2 0 B U S I N E S S O F M E D I C I N E ❰❰❰❰❰ 0 5