Rye Brook, N.Y. (Mar. 1, 2019) — As costs for cancer care skyrocket,  The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® (LLS) is putting forward 31 policy recommendations aimed at lowering the cost of cancer care for patients, while protecting access to quality care.

Louis J. DeGennaro, Ph.D., LLS president and CEO, issued the following statement regarding the cost of cancer care:

“The high cost of cancer care poses a real threat to anyone with a cancer diagnosis and their families. l know all too well that the current system is not sustainable for patients, who are burdened with unfair cost-sharing, which too often puts vital care out of reach of those who need it most. That’s why it is so important for LLS to bring the key stakeholders in the healthcare arena to the table to find solutions that drive down costs without sacrificing patient care.”

A key tenet of LLS’s Cost of Cancer Care Initiative, announced in 2017, says that every stakeholder in the healthcare system has a responsibility to address the growth in healthcare costs. Today, we renew our call for policymakers to fulfill their responsibility to enact reforms that will make a real difference for patients and the healthcare system.

LLS has invested nearly $1.3 billion in cutting-edge cancer research, resulting in lifesaving treatments and cures for some patients. But new treatments can’t help patients who don’t have access to them. All of us must do more to help break down the cost barriers to treatment.”

LLS has submitted a letter to Senate leaders in response to Senate H.E.L.P. Chairman Lamar Alexander’s (R-Tenn.) call for stakeholder ideas on reducing the cost of healthcare. LLS is recommending policy changes that would:

• Curb existing incentives that promote hospital consolidation, such as dramatically higher payments for the same service;
• Crack down on tactics used by drug makers to delay generic competition;
• Reduce wasteful spending based on common and preventable misdiagnoses;
• Empower insurers to base a drug’s payment on its value; and
• Provide real relief for patients struggling to afford their prescriptions, through a new monthly spending cap in Medicare Part D.

For more specifics on LLS’s policy recommendations, click here.