Episode 9 - The Payer Approach to Immunotherapy

In this segment, the panelists explain how coverage policies vary by payer, and explore the factors that affect the costs associated with different immunotherapy agents.

Michael Kolodziej, MD, discusses how Aetna reviews evidence and takes several factors into account when making payer decisions about supporting cancer research, and explains that different organizations have different processes. Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, continues the conversation with an explanation of how different immunotherapy agents have different dosage and administration requirements, which affect overall costs.

Addressing cost differentials and coverage policy inconsistencies is important because what is covered by payers directly impacts the types of treatments that are recommended to patients. As concluded by Daniel J. George, MD, providers want to be able to recommend a clinical trial or other treatment modality in situations where standard therapy is not likely to be effective for the patient.