Data from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Update Knowledge in Genetics (Medicaid Spending and Utilization of Gene and RNA Therapies for Rare Inherited Conditions): Genetics

2024 MAY 14 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A new study on genetics is now available. According to news originating from Baltimore, Maryland, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Gene and RNA therapies are promising treatments for many rare diseases.”

The news editors obtained a quote from the research from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health: “Pediatric populations that could benefit from these drugs are overrepresented among state Medicaid programs. Using Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data, we examined Medicaid spending and utilization of rare disease gene and RNA therapies. Between 2017 and 2022, the number of available gene and RNA therapies increased from 3 to 13, yearly Medicaid spending increased from $148.3 million to $879.7 million, and the number of yearly treatments (a proxy for number of patients) increased from 327 to 1,638. Nearly all spending was attributed to spinal muscular atrophy and Duchenne muscular dystrophy drugs. States participating in Medicaid pooled purchasing initiatives had 39% higher treatments per 100,000 enrollees with no differences in spending.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “States that carved SMA drugs out of managed Medicaid contracts had higher utilization (54%) and higher spending than those without the carve-out, but spending for carve-out states was higher for those with <80% of enrollees in managed care as compared to those with 80% and above. This suggests multi-state purchasing initiatives and managed care carve-outs can help increase access to gene and RNA therapies among Medicaid beneficiaries, but it is unclear if these strategies are effective at managing spending.”

For more information on this research see: Medicaid Spending and Utilization of Gene and RNA Therapies for Rare Inherited Conditions. Health Affairs Scholar, 2024. The publisher for Health Affairs Scholar is Oxford University Press (OUP).

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxae051.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Ilina C Odouard, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Additional authors for this research include Jeromie Ballreich, Mariana P Socal.

ORCID is an identifier for authors and includes bibliographic information. The following is ORCID information for the author of this research: Ilina C Odouard (http://orcid.org/0009-0006-5431-3979).

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)