Sinema’s bipartisan Medicaid VBPs for Patients (MVP) Act enhances vulnerable patients’ access to innovative new therapies and potential cures
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema introduced the Medicaid VBPs for Patients (MVP) Act alongside Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin (Okla.) – legislation to expand patient access to innovative treatments and curative therapies by empowering state Medicaid programs to enter into value-based purchasing (VBP) arrangements.
VBP arrangements are agreements where drugmakers are reimbursed based on the drug’s performance and improved clinical outcomes – helping states responsibly finance new, high-cost treatments such as gene and cell therapies for serious, chronic or rare diseases. VBPs help protect Medicaid patients from paying for high-cost treatments that are not effective, allowing states to care for their most vulnerable populations while safeguarding public health programs funded by taxpayers.
“Arizona patients deserve access to breakthrough treatments and potential cures for serious or rare diseases. Our new bill ensures Arizona families can get quality, affordable care when they need it and that state Medicaid programs are investing in care that is proven to improve clinical outcomes and patients’ quality of life, ” said Sinema.
“Value-based purchasing better aligns our health care system towards patient care,” said Mullin.“Traditional payment methods like price setting and fee-for-service compensation limit innovation and competition, making many treatments out of reach. By linking the cost of treatments to patient outcomes, VBP arrangements give rare disease patients access to life-saving care options without leaving them or the health care system financially liable for ineffective treatments. I will continue to champion the benefits of value-based care, and I appreciate Sens. Sinema, Scott, and Hassan for joining me in this effort.”
Successful VBPs help patients access the newest, high-cost innovations while creating long-term health savings for states as healthier Medicaid patients require less care for complex, chronic conditions such as sickle cell, cancers, or other genetic disorders.
The Medicaid VBPs for Patients (MVP) Act builds on Sinema’s work strengthening Arizonans access to quality, affordable care. The Senators’ EASE Act increases rural patients’ access to specialty care providers by authorizing the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to create a virtual specialty care provider network that patients can access through telehealth.
Last year, Sinema co-sponsored the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act – legislation providing health insurance coverage for children on Medicaid and eliminating difficult barriers for providers caring for children with complex medical needs on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) who have to travel out of Arizona for treatment, to see a specialist, or to enter clinical trials.