WASHINGTON (Sept. 27, 2016) – With nearly one in four Americans currently suffering from rheumatic diseases – including an estimated 530,000 in West Virginia and 5.9 million in California – David B. McKinley, P.E. (WV-1) and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) have introduced a bipartisan resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives recognizing September as National Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month (RDAM) in hopes of bringing increased national attention to a growing and costly healthcare crisis.

“Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month offers us a tremendous opportunity to really focus on the healthcare access issues facing a growing number of Americans – most notably the high cost of medical technology, but also the national shortage of trained rheumatologists available to guide their care,” said McKinley. “It’s time that we take long-overdue steps to improve the outlook for patients suffering from these life-altering conditions.”

Rheumatic diseases – which include rheumatoid arthritis (RA), lupus, gout, Sjögren’s, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and hundreds of lesser-known conditions – are expected to affect nearly 80 million Americans by the year 2040, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Today, more than 300,000 children are among the millions of Americans suffering from chronic, progressive and often debilitating illnesses that are frequently underdiagnosed, or misdiagnosed, due to unusual symptoms and a national shortage of trained rheumatologists.

“We look forward to our colleagues in Congress joining us in recognizing the significant impact of rheumatic diseases so we can begin taking steps to ease the physical and financial burden Americans suffering from rheumatic diseases currently face,” Eshoo said.

According to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) – the nation’s leading organization representing rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals – while breakthrough biologic therapies have become available in recent years to treat rheumatic diseases, many U.S. patients are unable to afford or access them. This unfortunate reality is due to a growing number of health insurers placing biologic treatments on “specialty tiers” that require patients to pay a percentage of the drug cost, rather than a fixed copayment. For expensive biologic therapies, “specialty tier” patient copays often range from $500 to more than $5,000 each month.

“We know that when patients can’t afford their medications, the results are permanent joint damage and disability, costly surgeries, and unnecessary hospitalizations – not to mention pain and suffering,” said McKinley. “If put into numbers that translates into $100 billion in annual direct costs to the U.S. healthcare system and more than $2 billion lost each year in patient earnings and productivity. We have to do more to ensure patients can access essential healthcare.”

The Patients’ Access to Treatment Act (PATA) was introduced in 2015 by Rep. McKinley and his colleague Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA). With more than 100 cosponsors to date, the bill has wide bipartisan support and would make significant changes in improvements in biologic therapy coverage for Americans who need it. Specifically, H.R. 1600 would limit patients’ cost-sharing requirements for specialty tier drugs, reduce the financial burden for patients, increase overall access to life-saving biologics, and help allow patients to function and remain in the workforce during their treatment.

More information about PATA is available on Rep. McKinley’s Web site. Information about rheumatic diseases, their symptoms and impact is available on the ACR website at www.rheumatology.org.

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