For Immediate Release:
Contact: Kelly Broadway, 202-808-8853
Bipartisan MVP Act is Key Step to Paying for Outcomes and Value for Prescription Drugs
New structure will lead to better care at lower costs
Washington, D.C. – Medical value-based purchasing (VBP) arrangements are a key innovation to addressing the rising cost of healthcare, particularly in the specialty drug market. The introduction of the bipartisan Medicaid VBPs for Patients (MVP) Act (H.R. 2666), sponsored by key leaders Reps. Guthrie and Eshoo, will improve affordable access to high-cost drugs, such as gene therapies, for patients across the nation.
The Act supplements a rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that allows both public and private payers to voluntarily enter into VBP arrangements with drug manufacturers. Reimbursement is then based on the patient’s improvement, not on the amount of medicine used during treatment. VBP arrangements help to better align a patient’s care with their recovery, giving doctors, researchers, and drug companies more incentive to be innovative in developing cures.
“The MVP Act realigns healthcare incentives to get the right drug to the right patient. If you bought a computer and it didn’t work, you would return it to get your money back. Why should healthcare be any different,” said Sloane Salzburg, Vice President of the Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC). “The Act is an important step in marrying quality and cost of healthcare and CAHC is thrilled that this issue has bipartisan support from Congress.”
CAHC urges lawmakers to swiftly vote through the MVP Act so that millions of Americans can begin to receive the care they need, without the financial worry.