Cancer doctors condemn Medicare experiment

A Medicare proposal to test new ways of paying for chemotherapy and other drugs given in a doctor’s office has sparked a furious battle, and cancer doctors are demanding that the Obama administration scrap the experiment.

The vehement reaction is raising questions about the government’s ability to tackle high drug costs, the top health care concern for the public.

At issue are some of the most expensive drugs for treating lifechanging diseases. The question isn’t whether those drugs are fairly priced, but whether Medicare’s current payment policy encourages doctors to prescribe the costliest medications so they can make more money.

Injected and infused drugs for such conditions as macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease are also affected.

Medicare now pays doctors and hospital outpatient clinics the average sales price of a drug, plus a 6 percent add-on, somewhat reduced by federal budget cuts. Naturally, 6 percent of a $15,000 drug is more than 6 percent of a $3,000 drug. But does that influence doctors’ decisions, raising costs for the government as well as those on Medicare?

Medicare officials seem to think so.

The new formula announced last month combines a 2.5 percent add-on with a flat fee for each day the drug is administered. A control group of doctors and hospitals would continue to be paid under the current system.

The experiment could become permanent policy if it lowers costs while maintaining quality. A second wave of experimentation would try to link what Medicare pays for a given drug to how well it works.

Specialist doctors, drugmakers and some patient advocacy groups are trying to compel Medicare to drop the plan. Primary care doctors, consumer groups representing older people and some economic experts want the experiment to move ahead.

Opponents say if that happens, cancer patients will be forced to go to outpatient hospital clinics instead of their local cancer doctor for the latest and most effective drugs. That’s because smaller, doctor-owned clinics may no longer be able to afford the upfront costs of cutting-edge medications. In rural areas, patients may have to travel long distances to get to a hospital clinic, they say.

Supporters call that “Mediscare,” a reference to the timeworn