U.S. Public Policy Inspired by Patients: Affordable Access

UCB is committed to promoting affordable access to care for patients through policy approaches that:

Ensure patients have access to a range of health plan options that meet their individual needs and offer robust protections like transparent, reliable formularies and affordable out-of-pocket costs

• We support ensuring availability of affordable health insurance options that provide robust benefits, access to clinically appropriate medicines or treatments, and rigorous patient protections.
• We support requirements to provide patients with easy-to-understand information about their pharmacy and medical coverage, out-of-pocket costs, and potential care restrictions to support informed decision-making.
• We support guaranteeing the terms of health insurance coverage, including the prohibition of mid-year formulary changes that create new restrictions to treatment access.
• We support requirements around utilization management techniques to ensure clinical appropriateness and transparency to both the patient and physician.
• We support patient affordability measures including annual limitations on out-of-pocket costs and policies that pass rebates and discounts from drug manufacturers to patients at the pharmacy counter.

Remove impediments to providers’ ability to prescribe the most appropriate therapy to patients, including step-edits and restrictive formularies, while also reducing patient out-of-pocket expenses

• We support providers’ ability to determine appropriate treatments for their patients without undue influence (control) from health plans; therefore, we promote access to simple, easy-to-use frameworks for overriding formulary restrictions such as step therapy and prior authorization.

Permit assistance for patients who cannot afford needed medicines

• We oppose policies that penalize patients for accepting drug manufacturer assistance in affording their medicines.