During this one-on-one interview, a part of the Oncology Stakeholders Summit, Spring 2015 series, Michael Kolodziej, MD, discusses payer considerations regarding coverage for new cancer treatments such as immuno-oncology therapies.
Dr Kolodziej, national medical director of oncology strategy for Aetna, remarks that the PD-1 agents, including the FDA-approved checkpoint inhibitors pembrolizumab and nivolumab, have generated a great deal of excitement in the oncology community. These drugs are related in terms of their mechanisms of action, and Dr Kolodziej describes the potential opportunity for oral oncolytics to be managed by class effect. Rather than payers deciding whether or not certain drugs will be treated as a class, it is likely that companies or physician groups that develop treatment pathways will recommend a limited number of agents, taking into account safety and efficacy data and drug cost.
Payers’ coverage decisions are currently reflective of FDA approvals and recommendations from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), notes Dr Kolodziej. “Payers tend to respect, at least initially, the FDA label and subsequently expert opinion like that offered by the NCCN. I would say that if a payer made a decision that was in conflict with NCCN, they’d be in a very difficult place to defend that decision.”
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April 22nd 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Brady Post, PhD, lead author of a study published in the April 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®, challenges the claim that hospital-employed physicians serve a more complex patient mix.
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April 15th 2025Using commercial insurance claims data and the US launch of tirzepatide as their dividing point, John Ostrominski, MD, Harvard Medical School, and his team studied trends in the use of both glucose-lowering and weight-lowering medications, comparing outcomes between adults with and without type 2 diabetes.
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New Research Challenges Assumptions About Hospital-Physician Integration, Medicare Patient Mix
April 22nd 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Brady Post, PhD, lead author of a study published in the April 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®, challenges the claim that hospital-employed physicians serve a more complex patient mix.
Listen
Personalized Care Key as Tirzepatide Use Expands Rapidly
April 15th 2025Using commercial insurance claims data and the US launch of tirzepatide as their dividing point, John Ostrominski, MD, Harvard Medical School, and his team studied trends in the use of both glucose-lowering and weight-lowering medications, comparing outcomes between adults with and without type 2 diabetes.
Listen
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