NCL submits letter to CDC urging them to make flu and COVID vaccines available at same time

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June 25, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

WASHINGTON, DC – Last week, NCL submitted comments to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in response to their request for public comments in advance of the ACIP meeting being held June 26 – 28, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. During this meeting, ACIP will be discussing several vaccines, including but not limited to COVID-19, flu and RSV vaccines. The committee will also be voting on recommendations many of the vaccines discussed, including COVID, flu and RSV for adults.

In the comments, NCL urges that the Committee do all in its power to ensure that both flu and COVID vaccines are made available at the same time, thus allowing patients to receive both vaccinations at the same appointment. NCL also asks that ACIP review the current recommendations for the RSV vaccine, specifically the shared clinical decision-making requirement. To read NCL’s comments in full, click here.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which is composed of fifteen medical and public health experts and is charged with advising the CDC Director on the use of vaccines and the adult and childhood immunization schedules. ACIP meets regularly to review data, studies and proposals for vaccines, and as needed for emergency cases. Meetings are open to the public, and since COVID they have been streamed online. The June 26 – 28 meeting will be streamed online, via YouTube and is available to watch here.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

Patients can’t afford Congress delaying PBM reform another year

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By Robin Strongin, Senior Director of Health Policy

As the 2024 political campaigns intensify, we’re going to be hearing a lot from candidates about what they’re going to do to make healthcare more affordable. The problem is, we’re dealing with high out-of-pocket costs right now and we shouldn’t have to wait until after another election for something to be done about them, especially when the current Congress has solutions today.

As I navigate my husband’s care through his battle with Lewy body dementia and speak to other patients and their loved ones, I have become all too familiar with the practices certain players in our healthcare system use to boost their already extraordinary profits at our expense. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are a prime example of this and we urgently need legislation to rein in their actions that are affecting both the costs we pay for care and access to the medicines our families need.

Several committees in both the U.S. House and Senate have been working on PBM reform legislation for months and there are multiple bills that could be passed now and sent to President Biden for his signature. With the time they will be taking off for campaigning, lawmakers have very few days left that they will be in Washington, D.C. this year. It would be all too easy for them to kick this can down the road and let the next Congress deal with it.

We need to raise our voices to demand that they don’t pass on this opportunity to make a difference.

There are two elements of PBM reform that could have an immediate impact on costs and prescription drug accessibility that Congress should pass without hesitation:

  • Disconnect PBM profits from drug prices. Right now, PBMs generate revenues from the rebates they demand from drug manufacturers. The higher the drug costs, the more they make in rebates and, consequently, they steer patients to medicines that cost more and block access to lower-priced generics and biosimilars. Enough is enough. Pass legislation that will have PBMs paid a flat fee for their services and remove the perverse incentives that are forcing patients to pay more and that place financial interests between patients and their healthcare providers.
  • Mandate that the PBMs pass along those negotiated rebates and discounts to consumers. Currently, these middlemen are moving those dollars into their own pockets. These savings should be going to patients at the pharmacy counter. It’s just common sense.

These are urgent issues that affect the lives and pocketbooks of millions of Americans. Yes, it’s great that politicians are making promises about how they will fix healthcare costs next year, but we need action now. Congress must pass PBM reform legislation before they adjourn this year.

NCL welcomes the 340B ACCESS Act

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May 30, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Consumers League welcomes the introduction of the 340B Affording Care for Communities and Ensuring a Strong Safety-Net Act (340B ACCESS Act), which makes needed reforms to protect the 340B program from misuse while lowering drug costs for low-income patients. We are particularly supportive of the proposed ban on aggressive debt collection practices as a condition for hospitals participating in the program. Such practices are unacceptable and out of sync with the mission of a safety-net provider.

Just this week the Wall Street Journal featured an article highlighting the aggressive debt collection practices of a rural Kansas hospital that is suing low-income patients over unpaid medical bills. This legislation ensures that hospitals cannot exploit their 340B status to deny patients who need access to charity care and then sue them for medical debt.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

iStock-1089974760_Biosimilars - Copy (1)

Biosimilars: What Consumers Should Know

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May 29, 2024: On this health series episode of NCL’s “We Can Do this” podcast, Director of Health Policy, Robin Strongin, sits with Sarah Ikenberry, Senior Communication Advisor for the Office of Therapeutic Biologics and Biosimilars at US Food and Drug Administration, and Julie Reed, Executive Director of the Biosimilars Forum.

Read more

2024 Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge awards six winners across four categories

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May 23, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

The thirteenth annual Script Your Future contest saw participation by 16 schools in 9 states and DC and directly communicating with over 12,000 patients nationwide.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the National Consumers League (NCL) and its partners announced the winners of the thirteenth annual Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge, a competition designed to engage pharmacy students and faculty across the nation by encouraging teams to develop creative initiatives to raise public awareness about the importance of medication adherence, vaccine confidence, and safe drug disposal, among other topics.

This year, NCL saw not only a robust increase in the number of schools of pharmacy participating, but an exciting array of creative solutions to the medication adherence challenges consumers face. All participants focused on greatly increasing their connections with their communities, by focusing on patients underserved by the healthcare system, and with each other, by working closely with other professional groups and key stakeholders. After much deliberation and review, this year’s winners are

  • Saint Joseph’s University,
  • Temple University,
  • University of New Mexico,
  • University of Charleston,
  • High Point University, and
  • Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM).

The 2024 Script Your Future Team Challenge is an awareness campaign coordinated by NCL with support from its partners and the Challenge sponsors – Bayer, Eli Lilly, Kenvue, Pfizer, USP, the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies Global (ASOP Global), the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP), the Association for Accessible Medicines Biosimilars Council, the Biosimilars Forum, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA).

This year’s winners, selected from dozens of applications and 16 participating educational institutions, are listed below.

National Award Winner: St. Joseph’s Philadelphia College of Pharmacy – PA

The St. Joseph’s Philadelphia College of Pharmacy team is one of the National Award winners for 2024! During the 2024 Challenge, students on the St. Joseph’s team decided to focus on a theme of “knowledge is key”. Their goal was to help patients learn more about their conditions and improve adherence and have healthcare providers learn more about identifying nonadherence and combatting it. Not only did the St. Joseph’s team collaborate within their community and their campus, but they also broadened their Script Your Future activities beyond their community via a Humanitarian Service-Learning trip to Costa Rica! The St. Joseph’s Philadelphia College of Pharmacy team was able to reach nearly 800 people within their communities, and beyond.

National Award Winner: Temple University School of Pharmacy – PA

Temple University is a long-time participant of the Script Your Future Team Challenge and this is their second time winning the National Award! This year, Temple students at the school of pharmacy not only continued to collaborate with health and community organizations in Philadelphia, including Temple University Hospital and its affiliated clinics, but also focused on meeting their community members where they were by working with grocery stores, libraries and student centers. Temple’s team worked with ShopRite grocery stores and Temple Health to have students fill a gap and provided comprehensive medication review for patients stopping at the Temple Health hub. The team also worked with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to offer free HIV testing to undergraduate students and discuss medication use, adherence and disease stigma. Through their events this Challenge, Temple students reached over 400 community members.

Under-Represented Community Outreach Award Winner: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) School of Pharmacy – PA

The 2024 Under-Represented Community Outreach Award goes to LECOM for the 2024 Script Your Future Team Challenge. This year, LECOM’s team, over the course of 60 service events, was able to counsel and connect with over 1300 individuals. By working with local officials and other community organizations, LECOM specifically reached out to their community members effected by poverty and disability. Through their partnership with the County Fair organizers and by organizing regular health fairs and several series of regularly scheduled education sessions, LECOM successfully focused on their community members who may not receive adequate care otherwise. This focus on community members who are underrepresented across healthcare or may have harder struggles with engaging with necessary healthcare, was greatly impressive.

Media/Communications Award Winner: High Point University – NC

The first of two Media/Communications Awards for the 2024 Challenge is awarded to High Point University! This year, High Point University hosted ‘surge challenges’ where students completed infographics and videos. These graphics and videos were then used to further educate the public and healthcare professionals about medication adherence and awareness. Additionally, the High Point team, in partnership with the other pharmacy schools across the state, participated in a Flu-be-gone challenge, to see which school administered the most flu vaccines in a specific week. The team was able to administer over 430 flu vaccines across the week through the Flu-be-gone challenge. Through creative, and catchy, communications the High Point University team connected with over 2800 of their community members.

Media/Communications Award Winner: University of Charleston School of Pharmacy – WV

The second of this year’s Media/Communications Awards goes to the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy (UCSOP)! With a decade of submissions, UCSOP has been a long time participate of the Team Challenge. This year, UCSOP, in collaboration with the West Virginian Pharmacists Association, participated in a legislative advocacy day at the state capital. With over 70 UCSOP students, faculty and staff participating, UCSOP spoke with local news and their state elected officials on a number of important bills related to medication adherence and the pharmacist’s role in health and patient care! The team also hosted an Out-of-the-Darkness walk focusing on suicide prevention and manned a booth at the city of Charleston’s Green Chilli Cookoff. Overall, UCSOP’s communication and outreach efforts were creative, impressive and impactful to their community.

Inter-Professional Award Winner: University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy – NM

As a first-year participant, we’re excited to award the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy the Inter-Professional Award for 2024! For their first year, the team at the University of New Mexico was able to work with nearly 30 students from 8 different healthcare programs at the University, including biomedical sciences, population health, occupational and physical therapy programs and many more. We were incredibly impressed with the events and the interprofessional outreach that the team was able to accomplish. Across two events, University of New Mexico was able to engage with 300 community members.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge!

A word from NCL

“Despite the chaos many universities have experienced across the country, it is heartening to see that students and faculty are coming together to collaborate on important issues in their communities. Healthcare generally, and medication adherence specifically, can be a matter of life or death for many consumers. NCL is very proud of the hard work, dedication, enthusiasm, and commitment to community the Script Your Future challenge teams, partners, and supporters continue to exhibit. Congratulations to all of the teams.”  –  NCL Director of Health Policy Robin Strongin

To learn more about Scrip Your Future and the Medication Adherence Challenge, visit Script Your Future  website or contact Sam Sears at samanthas@nclnet.org.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

NCL statement on Senate Reintroduction of Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act

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May 15, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – Last week, Senate Democrats reintroduced legislation to revamp federal cannabis policy. The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act aims to legalize cannabis at the federal level, create a new regulatory framework for cannabis, expand research into cannabis’ potential and risks, and more.  The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer advocacy organization, has been actively monitoring the growing threats to consumer safety as the market for untested, unapproved cannabis products has exploded. NCL Chief Executive Officer, Sally Greenberg, released the following statement:

“We are grateful to Senators Schumer, Wyden, and Booker for their ongoing leadership in this space and for acknowledging the critical role of FDA in helping to protect public health. As cannabis products have grown in popularity – and most recently, high THC products have perpetuated the market – it is increasingly important that, if cannabis is legalized, our federal policies and regulations are science-based and prioritize public health. We know that cannabis manufacturers often make misleading or even false claims about their products ability to mitigate or even cure various health issues and consequently our leaders must help consumers better navigate this marketplace across the U.S. FDA is best positioned to achieve that outcome. A new report reiterates the need to ensure that FDA has sufficient regulatory tools and resources to mitigate public health risks and that more research be done to better understand the benefits, risks, drug interactions, etc. of cannabis products.”

Learn more about the cannabis consumer market and the path to safe cannabis at cannabiswatch.org.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

NCL on Upcoming Congressional Hearings with UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty

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April 30, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – Tomorrow, the Senate Finance Committee and House Energy and Commerce Committee will hear from UnitedHealth Group CEO on the insurance company’s cyberattack that put millions of medical records and patient privacy at risk.

The cyberattack is, of course, cause for concern, but there are also several other ways major insurance companies like UnitedHealth Group are hurting consumers. These companies have taken over the prescription drug marketplace – they are integrated with the pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) who gatekeep our prescriptions, limiting access and increasing out-of-pocket costs.

Here are the top questions American consumers deserve answers to:

  • How will your company work to not only protect patient data going forward, but also protect patient choice and power in their healthcare decision-making?
  • Can you explain the relationships and makeup of UHG, Optum Rx, and Optum Health? How does this vertical integration give consumers a fair choice when it comes to their health when there is a clear incentive to keep patients – and thus profit – in the UHG family?
  • UnitedHealth Group’s PBM Optum Rx claims to benefit consumers by negotiating rebates with drug manufacturers – why, then, aren’t consumers experiencing lower costs at the pharmacy counter?
  • How much does Optum Rx collect each year in rebates from drug manufacturers? How much profit does the UHG corporation rake in from prescription drug purchases?
  • Is UHG aware of the significant health and financial challenges that prior authorization requirements impose on consumers and their families?

The insurance industry is riddled with poor incentives that ultimately hurt consumers. Lawmakers have an opportunity this week to shine a light on these problems. We need bipartisan reforms to give consumers more power when it comes to their prescriptions, and ultimately, their health.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

NCL responds to Senators Crapo, Wyden announcement on needed PBM reforms

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March 14, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL) today released a statement following Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) recent press conference announcing their push to include bipartisan PBM reforms in the broader funding package.

The following statement is attributable to NCL Chief Executive Officer, Sally Greenberg:

“For far too long now, PBMs have been taking advantage of our drug pricing system, finding ways to increase their profits without delivering value to consumers. Now, after years of investigations, pharmacy closures and high out-of-pocket costs, our leaders are doing something about it. By disconnecting Medicare prescription drug costs from PBM profits, this legislation will address one of the many ways PBMs use the system to their financial advantage. Congress has a huge opportunity to help seniors better afford and access the medications they need. We urge Congress to get this done without delay.”

Learn more about NCL’s work to address the PBM problem here.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

Nancy Glick

It’s time to care about obesity care

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Nancy GlickBy Nancy Glick, Director of Food and Nutrition Policy

Every year, the calendar is full of national health observances – special months, weeks and days that raise awareness of serious diseases and health issues. While all are valuable to advance the health of the Americans, Obesity Care Week taking place March 4-8 is especially significant.

Why?  Because even though the adult obesity rate now exceeds 42 percent – the highest level ever recorded – obesity is still viewed as a problem of lack of willpower, too many health professionals act in discriminatory ways based on people’s size, and those seeking obesity care often face exclusions in insurance plans or restrictive practices that delay or deny treatment.

The consequence is that that only 10 percent of people with obesity get help from medical professionals, meaning the disease remains largely undiagnosed and undertreated.

It doesn’t have to be this way. There are a variety of safe and effective treatment options. And medical societies, including the American Medical Association (AMA), agree that obesity is a complex disease requiring ongoing quality care. The key is for society – including health professionals, insurers and policymakers – to care about obesity and agree that treatment matters. Here are the reasons why.

It is long past time for health professionals, employers, insurers, policymakers and the American public to care about obesity and work collectively to break down the barriers that prevent people from accessing proper care and treatment. This is the purpose of Obesity Care Week – to shine a light on a disease that no one has wanted to talk or think about and shift the way society views obesity and treats the disease.

Obesity Care Week is also an opportunity to call attention to the first Obesity Bill of Rights for the nation, developed by NCL and the National Council on Aging in consultation with leading obesity specialists and issued in January 2024. Starting with the recognition that obesity is a treatable disease, the Obesity Bill of Rights establishes eight essential rights so adults will receive the same level of attention and care as those with other chronic conditions and have access to all treatments deemed appropriate by their health providers. Now is the time to advance changes in federal, state, and employer policies that will ensure these rights are incorporated into medical practice.

More information about the Obesity Bill of Rights is available at: www.right2obesitycare.org.

*Links are no longer active as the original sources have removed the content, sometimes due to federal website changes or restructurings

A coalition of consumer, health groups – including NCL – call for nutrition, ingredient, and allergen labeling on alcoholic beverages

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February 27, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – A coalition of consumer and health groups is urging Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to ensure that the agency responsible for regulating most alcoholic beverages in the U.S. – the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) – keeps its commitment to require standardized alcohol labeling on all beer, wine, and distilled spirits products by initiating three promised rulemakings on nutrition, ingredients, and allergen labeling on an accelerated basis.

The appeal comes in the form of a February 27 letter from five leading public interest groups as TTB begins a series of “listening sessions” on labeling and advertising of alcoholic beverages on February 28. Raising concerns that the listening sessions are no more than a delay tactic to maintain the status quo and “slow walk deliberations for months,” the organizations – the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Consumer Federation of America (CFA), Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), and National Consumers League (NCL) – called for TTB to publish the rulemakings by June 2024.

The Treasury Department promised that TTB would issue mandatory alcohol labeling rules in a November 17, 2022 letter in response to a lawsuit filed by CSPI, NCL, and CFA. The Department stated its intention to publish the three rulemakings before the end of 2023.

“We write … to express our dismay and serious concern that TTB has backtracked from its written undertaking of the November 17, 2022 agreement,” the groups wrote to Secretary Yellen. “TTB has, in effect, enabled recalcitrant companies by delaying indefinitely rulemakings on mandatory alcohol labeling while opting for a voluntary rule under which labeling “Serving Facts” or “Alcohol Facts” and ingredients are optional.”

Focusing on the health consequences of delaying action on alcohol labeling, the letter from advocates to Secretary Yellen describes how better alcohol labeling will benefit the 84 percent of U.S. adults who drink alcoholic beverages – 216 million people – and who currently do not have the facts about the alcohol they are consuming to protect their health and safety. Overconsumption of alcohol is a costly public health problem that has become much worse in recent years, as alcohol-related deaths have risen substantially. Among the key concerns, alcohol is involved in about 30 percent of all traffic crash fatalities in the U.S, is a source of empty calories that contributes to obesity, can impact blood sugar control in people with diabetes, and labeling can be a life-or-death matter for people with food allergies. Additionally, excessive drinking increases the risk of liver disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, alcohol use disorders, certain cancers and severe injuries.

“The consensus among public health and nutrition experts and consumers themselves, in favor of mandatory and complete alcohol labeling is overwhelming,” said Thomas Gremillion, Director of Food Policy at the Consumer Federation of America. “By reneging on its promise to initiate rulemakings, TTB continues to deny Americans the same helpful and easily accessible labeling information now required for conventional foods, dietary supplements, and nonprescription drugs.”

The letter to Secretary Yellen also stresses that alcohol manufacturers have the capability to put standardized Serving Facts labels on their products, when required. This is the case for products such as some hard ciders, hard seltzers, and wine coolers that are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, which requires such products to have the same Nutrition Facts panel and ingredients statements on nonalcoholic beverages, from soft drinks to juices.

“To date, TTB has taken the position that requiring standardized nutrient content labeling on alcoholic beverages is too costly and burdensome for beverage alcohol manufacturers,” said Sally Greenberg, CEO of the National Consumers League. “However, the inconvenient truth for the industry is that some of the very same companies whose products do not include a Serving Facts statement if they are regulated by TTB already put complete alcohol labeling on their hard ciders, hard seltzers, wine coolers, and other FDA regulated wines and beers.”

Highlighting that the time has come for mandatory alcohol labeling, the letter makes clear that the agency’s current voluntary labeling rules are not working. Although the rule gives companies the option of putting “Serving Facts” or “Alcohol Facts” and ingredients information on their products, new research from the Center for Science in the Public Interest finds that most manufacturers have opted out of TTB’s voluntary program. Using TTB’s COLA database to examine the labels for 132 of the nation’s top beer and wine brands, CSPI’s study found that only 11 labels of the 65 beer brands examined (17%) and none of the 67 wine brands included ingredients lists while 18 beers (28%) and no wines used the voluntary “Serving Facts” label, and one additional beer brand carried the voluntary “Alcohol Facts” label. CSPI’s review also showed that even when serving information is included on beer and wine labels, there is no standard format for where and how the disclosures appear, making it hard for consumers to find information easily and compare different brands.

“We have the data that demonstrate that Treasury’s voluntary rule has failed to adequately improve transparency in alcohol labeling,” said Dr. Peter G. Lurie, President of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “Ensuring that the agency ends this ineffective voluntary regime by issuing mandatory labeling rules necessitates national leadership. This is why we are appealing directly to Secretary Yellen to intercede personally to require the agency to commit to publish all three proposed rules by June 2024.”

The 2022 letter whereby TTB undertook to publish standardized alcohol content, calorie, and allergen labeling by the end of 2023 resulted from a lawsuit filed by Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Federation of America, and the National Consumers League on October 3, 2022. The suit charged TTB with failing to act on a citizen petition, submitted to the Treasury Department in 2003 to mandate alcohol labeling. CSPI, CFA, and NCL filed the petition along with a coalition of 66 other organizations and eight individuals, including four deans of schools of public health.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.