FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2008
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Medical Technology, Advancements in Innovation
Key to Quality and Affordability of Health Care
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – AdvaMed President and CEO Stephen J. Ubl released the following statement in response to today’s hearing “The Long-Term Outlook and Sources of Growth in Health Care Spending,” before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee:
“The long-term affordability of health care and the viability of the Medicare program is one of the most pressing issues facing the nation. The answer, however, is not to limit patient access to innovative new treatments and technology that improve health and save lives.
“Medical progress has improved countless lives and dramatically reduced death rates from a host of dread diseases, from cancer to heart disease to stroke. As the result of new technologies and treatments the rate of disability among the elderly has been steadily declining and, despite longer lives, will save Medicare an estimated $73 billion a year by 2009.
“The way to cut costs is to address the true drivers of wasteful spending – including outdated and inefficient administrative and health care delivery processes, unnecessary emergency room visits, lack of effective prevention measures, failure to appropriately manage care for chronic conditions and poor quality.
“One idea to address cost concerns that has been raised by the CBO and others is comparative effectiveness research. A December 2007 CBO report outlined the potential for comparative effectiveness research to help inform clinical decision-making, but it also acknowledged the difficulties in generating conclusive results from such research. Comparative effectiveness research typically looks at what works best for very large patient populations ‘on average.’ When considering the numerous individual factors that affect patients’ response to treatment such as gender, race, complications and co-morbidities, it is clear that limiting patient access to safe and effective treatments based on averages is not sound policy let alone sound health care.
“We are also concerned that CBO suggests that one option for use of comparative effectiveness research is to deny Medicare patients access to more effective but more costly treatment. This sweeping change would have a significant impact on beneficiary access to necessary treatments, as Medicare’s participating physicians would no longer be able to provide the most appropriate treatments for each individual patient. Senior citizens deserve the best – not the cheapest -- American medicine has to offer.
“AdvaMed is strongly committed to the principles of evidence-based medicine and we support comparative effectiveness research as a means to improve clinical outcomes. However, comparative effectiveness research should not be used to deny coverage; it should be focused on clinical-effectiveness, not cost-effectiveness; and it should be transparent and explicitly include all stakeholders.”
AccessAdvaMed’s comparative effectiveness
principles.
# # # AdvaMed member companies produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. Our members produce nearly 90 percent of the health care technology purchased annually in the United States and more than 50 percent purchased annually around the world. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit
http://www.advamed.org/.