The Autoimmune Association, along with 31 other patient organizations, submitted a letter to request the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to withdraw the Medicaid Rebate Stacking Policy from Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (MDRP) to protect patients and providers access to medications. We are happy to report that on May 15 CMS responded and indicated that they are not finalizing the proposal regarding stacking at this time.

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Autoimmune Association is actively promoting passage of the Safe Step Act to reform insurance-mandated step therapy processes by requiring a timely and medically-appropriate appeals process. Through our advocacy work, in partnership with the Safe Step Coalition, the bill is nearing 213 cosponsors. We are hopeful the bill will pass this year and ease the burden of patients who are subject to these “fail first” policies.

In March 2024 the Autoimmune Association hosted it’s inaugural fly-in. Twenty individuals from across the country came in to represent the voices of 50 million Americans living with an autoimmune disease, shared their personal journeys and advocated for transformative policy reforms. Participants engaged with 37 members or staff representatives from both the Senate and the House. They highlighted the escalating prevalence of autoimmune diseases in the U.S., sharing the significant challenges these conditions pose and underscoring the critical need for federal action. The advocates focused on rallying support for two crucial legislative efforts and funding for the Office of Autoimmune Disease Research.

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April 2023 – The Autoimmune Association submitted comments submitted to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on their proposed implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act. The comments express the position of the autoimmune patient community that implementation needs to consider patient access beyond coverage, expand the definition of unmet need, and allow more time for stakeholder input.

March 2023 – The Autoimmune Association sent a letter to the office of New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham urging her to sign New Mexico H.B. 73 Biomarker Testing Insurance Requirements. This critical legislation would expand access to biomarker testing, essential to the rapid and accurate diagnosis of autoimmune and immune-mediated conditions, to the most vulnerable communities.

February 2023 – The Autoimmmune Association signed on to a letter from the All Copays Count Coalition thanking Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA-01), Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-CA-44), Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY-09), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12), Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-01), and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO-01) for introducing H.R. 830 the HELP Copays Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.

December 2022 – The Autoimmune Association sent a letter, co-signed by 36 patient organizations, to the House and Senate appropriation committees calling upon them to pass a final appropriations bill that includes a recommendation that an Office of Autoimmunity be established within the National Institutes of Health. This office would be critical in developing a comprehensive, transparent, and strategic approach to understanding autoimmune disease and funding additional research.