AARDA’s Statement on the Medicare Part D rule to CMS

Eastpointe, MI (December 20, 2017) – The Autoimmune Association
issued the following statement in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’
(CMS) request for information (RFI) in their proposed Medicare Part D rule:

“By seeking to ensure that manufacturer-negotiated drug rebates and discounts in the
Medicare Part D program actually go to patients, CMS is exhibiting bold, forward thinking
that could help dramatically improve the bottom line for patients living with chronic
illnesses.

Approximately 50 million Americans, including seniors, live with an autoimmune disease.
Ensuring that medicines are accessible and affordable are top priorities for our community
and finding ways to lower out-of-pocket costs for drugs is a huge step in the right direction.

American seniors – especially those living with autoimmune related diseases – deserve to
receive the drug discounts that were intended for them. We applaud the efforts of CMS to
help patients by finding ways to ensure that Part D plans share drug manufacturers’ discount
and rebate savings with them at the point of sale.”