Insights From a Temporal Assessment of Increases in US Private Payer Coverage of Tumor Sequencing From 2015 to 2019

May 1, 2020, 00:00
10.1016/j.jval.2020.01.018
https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S1098-3015(20)30097-8/fulltext
Title : Insights From a Temporal Assessment of Increases in US Private Payer Coverage of Tumor Sequencing From 2015 to 2019
Citation : https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/action/showCitFormats?pii=S1098-3015(20)30097-8&doi=10.1016/j.jval.2020.01.018
First page : 551
Section Title : THEMED SECTION: PRECISION MEDICINE
Open access? : No
Section Order : 551

Objectives

To examine the temporal trajectory of insurance coverage for next-generation tumor sequencing (sequencing) by private US payers, describe the characteristics of coverage adopters and nonadopters, and explore adoption trends relative to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ National Coverage Determination (CMS NCD) for sequencing.

Methods

We identified payers with positive coverage (adopters) or negative coverage (nonadopters) of sequencing on or before April 1, 2019, and abstracted their characteristics including size, membership in the BlueCross BlueShield Association, and whether they used a third-party policy. Using descriptive statistics, payer characteristics were compared between adopters and nonadopters and between pre-NCD and post-NCD adopters. An adoption timeline was constructed.

Results

Sixty-nine payers had a sequencing policy. Positive coverage started November 30, 2015, with 1 payer and increased to 33 (48%) as of April 1, 2019. Adopters were less likely to be BlueCross BlueShield members (P .001). Fifty-eight percent of adopters were small payers. Among adopters, 52% initiated coverage pre-NCD over a 25-month period and 48% post-NCD over 17 months.

Conclusions

We found an increase, but continued variability, in coverage over 3.5 years. Temporal analyses revealed important trends: the possible contribution of the CMS NCD to a faster pace of coverage adoption, the interdependence in coverage timing among BlueCross BlueShield members, the impact of using a third-party policy on coverage timing, and the importance of small payers in early adoption. Our study is a step toward systematic temporal research of coverage for precision medicine, which will inform policy and affordability assessments.

Categories :
  • Coverage with Evidence Development & Adaptive Pathways
  • Health Policy & Regulatory
  • Insurance Systems & National Health Care
  • Patient-Centered Research
  • Personalized & Precision Medicine
  • Specialized Treatment Areas
Tags :
  • insurance coverage
  • precision medicine
  • temporal policy analyses
  • tumor sequencing
Regions :
ViH Article Tags :