Health and Men

Prostate Cancer And The Men’s Health Policy Center

by Scott on April 23rd, 2008

The Men’s Health Network (MHN), is a non-profit educational organization comprised of physicians, researchers, public health workers, individuals and other health professionals committed to improving the health and well-being of men, boys and families as well as engaging in legislative dialogue on issues related to cancer and cancer treatments.

MHN is affiliated with the Men’s Health Policy Center (MHPC) – a public policy resource center that provides coverage of the legislative process, and the impact it will have on men, their health, and their families.

One of the important policy issues highlighted on the MHPC website is the issue of access to vital drugs for prostate cancer patients on Medicare. Prostate cancer is an enormous health care problem for men and their families. Currently, it is the most diagnosed cancer in men today and the second leading cause of cancer death.

Did you know?

• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and the second leading killer of men
• A full range of approved drug therapies are currently available to treat prostate cancer
• Medicare’s LCA policy allows the government to interfere with prostate cancer patients’ access to those approved therapies solely due to cost
• LCA policy unfairly singles out prostate cancer patients, disproportionately affects low-income patients, and does not apply to other conditions
• The government should not interfere with treatment decisions made between prostate cancer patients and their physicians

Now you may be wondering “What is the LCA?”

Right now, Medicare applies a practice called “least costly alternative” (LCA) to one and only one class of drugs - hormonal drugs - which are used by prostate cancer patients to fight this disease. This policy allows the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to deny payment for the additional cost of a more expensive prostate cancer drug therapy if a comparable therapy costs less.

What can you do besides get yourself checked? You can check out the petition in the paragraph below.

The MPHC recently began a petition to US Congress to demand that Medicare repeal the LCA policy for prostate cancer drug therapies. Withdrawing Medicare’s LCA policy is needed to ensure patients have equitable access to “Vital Prostate Cancer Drug Therapies”.

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