One of California's largest private groups of oncologists opposes the new Medicare proposal that would involve senior citizens in payment experiments involving chemotherapy.
The proposal involves randomly selecting Medicare patients to participate in the test, which will influence the type of medication they receive. They will not be aware of their participation in the program, will not have the ability to give informed consent and will not be able to opt out.
The proposal, expected to start in late 2016, was created to control rising drug costs.
California Cancer Associates for Research and Excellence recently joined forces with the American Society of Clinical Oncology and Community Oncology Alliance to call for Medicaid to cease the experiment until there is better understanding its potential impact on patient care.
Physicians fear the proposal will create two classes of patients — those with access to the more advanced, expensive treatments and those involuntarily treated with cheaper and sometimes older, less effective drugs.
"Our doctors support the laudable effort to drive down the costs of cancer care," said Dr. Jawien, MD, cCARE medical director. "However, this proposal is not well thought out. It will take decision making out of many patients' hands and endanger their health, and will likely actually drive healthcare costs up rather than down."
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