Jan 8, 2021
There are many reasons for patients and advocates to be concerned about organizations – including the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) – that use the Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY), and their growing influence over insurance coverage for new drugs...
Dec 21, 2020
Many patients, advocates, and caregivers have heard troubling stories about the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER). They have heard about patients who were denied access to vital treatments because ICER determined the drugs were not cost-effective. They...
Dec 9, 2020
President-elect Biden has a unique opportunity to refocus our health care system on patients in ways we have never seen before. The COVID-19 pandemic presents our greatest challenge and perhaps our greatest opportunity to solve long-standing and emergent health...
Oct 1, 2020
As we enter the final stretch of the 2020 election season, many of us may be reviewing the candidates’ stances on issues of not only personal, but also national, importance as we consider the choices before us. High on this list for many Americans is access to...
Aug 17, 2020
The recent Health Affairs blog Who is sowing seeds of confusion about the QALY? fails to acknowledge the most fundamental problem with the Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY): the QALY is a mathematically impossible construct. Debates of the merits and scope of QALY...
Jul 10, 2020
Recent protests against police brutality have forced the country to face the role our institutions play in perpetuating racism. As with law enforcement, we must hold our health care system accountable for discrimination and the effect it has on health outcomes....
