Cancer Care Advocates in D.C. Ask Congress to Protect Independent Community Oncology

 Patients, Survivors, and Care Providers Meet with Lawmakers on Issues of Affordability and Care Access

More than 100 advocates from 23 states are assembling on Capitol Hill today to meet with their members of Congress and ask for support of independent community oncology. The advocates, including patients, survivors and their family members, oncologists, hematologists, pharmacists and pharmacy team members, and practice administrators, are gathering under the banner of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and asking members of Congress to implement policy fixes that increase the affordability of treatment, remove obstacles to care, and ensure practice longevity so future patients have easy access to care. COA and its advocates are holding almost 100 meetings with members of Congress and their staff.

While on the Hill, advocates are asking Congress to prioritize three goals:

1. Increase Patient Affordability. Differences in payments to hospitals versus independent practices and abuse of the 340B Drug Pricing Program are raising costs for patients. Advocates are asking Congress to pass site-neutral payment legislation and reform the 340B Program.
2. Remove Patient Access Obstacles. Insurers and middlemen, like pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), are instituting unnecessary obstacles to cancer care, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has banned medication delivery. Advocates are asking for reform of the prior authorization system, the passage of PBM reform, and the passage of the Seniors’ Access to Critical Medications Act (H.R. 2484) to allow patients with cancer to receive critical drugs through the mail.
3. Ensure Patient Access. For too long, practices have faced Medicare payments that do not keep up with inflation due to fee schedule cuts and outdated policies, making it harder to keep their doors open. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has put providers in the middle between drug manufacturers and the government drug price negotiations which threatens to dramatically cut reimbursement. COA advocates are asking Congress to address low physician payments and ensure they do not fall behind inflation. They’re also asking for a technical fix to the IRA that takes providers out of the negotiation process, removing them from harm’s way.

“All patients deserve access to local, high-quality, and affordable cancer care. Unfortunately, current policies make this reality more out of reach than ever,” says Nicolas Ferreyros, managing director of COA. “We must address abusive middlemen like PBMs, reimbursement rates that have not even keep up with inflation, and misguided public policy to move the needle for America’s patients. As cancer treatments advance, there is more hope than ever for patients battling cancer. To make this hope accessible for all, we must protect independent community oncology and the policies that support it.”

https://mycoa.communityoncology.org/news-updates/press-releases/june-2025-hill-day-press-release