NEW PAPER: Health Plan Barriers Block Care for Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Clinician policy paper explores treatment barriers for people living with HCM

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Accessing treatment can be difficult for the up to one in 250 people who live with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes the heart muscle to thicken, making it harder for the heart to pump blood. "Optimizing Care for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy," a policy paper released today by the Alliance for Patient Access, highlights the disease, its treatment and the barriers that prevent patients from accessing care.

Access to HCM treatment can mitigate a patient's complex symptoms – such as cardiac arrest and chest pain – and improve health outcomes. The most recent example is cardiac myosin inhibitors, which have revolutionized care for this common condition.

Yet barriers to treatments can complicate providers' ability to care for their patients. Health insurance obstacles, such as new-to-market exclusions and imaging restrictions, may delay treatment.

Policy changes can allow patients to receive an accurate diagnosis and timely, tailored treatment.
The white paper outlines the specific need to:

• Raise awareness and increase education
• Minimize health plan interference and limit utilization management
• Protect patients from imaging restrictions

About Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

• More than one-third of HCM patients, including both children and adults, are hospitalized at least once within a year of diagnosis.
• HCM is often misdiagnosed in children and not diagnosed until adulthood among patients living with the disease
• Patients may experience a variety of symptoms, including cardiac arrest, chest pain and heart palpitations.
• Treatments like cardiac myosin inhibitors can simplify a patient's treatment plan and directly treat their condition, rather than just managing symptoms.

STATEMENT FROM JOSIE COOPER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ALLIANCE FOR PATIENT ACCESS: "Innovative options have opened up care for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. But this treatment can have a meaningful impact only if patients can access it."

Learn more in "Optimizing Care for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy."

About the Alliance for Patient Access

The Alliance for Patient Access is a network of policy-minded health care providers who advocate for patient-centered care.

SOURCE Alliance for Patient Access